Death Defying
by Theninjamang
Summary: The Reapers. Warnings of their coming have been hastily rejected and met with large amounts of ridicule and disbelief. But will the questionable actions of Commander Shepard be enough to finally get the galaxy to recognize the danger? Post-Arrival DLC
1. I

**Well, it seems as if my tendency to leave things unfinished has struck again.  
****Alas, it was because of how much I wanted to rewrite the Mass Effect 3 ending, but it looks like Chuck vs. the Game is going to have a very long stint on the back-burner. **

**Either way, this is going to be my take on the Mass Effect 3 storyline, and it will be DRASTICALLY different from the original. **

**Please try and read this like an official Mass Effect tie-in novel rather than a fanfiction, as it was what I had in mind when I was writing it.**

**Clearly, none of the Mass Effect creative rights belong to me. Of course, I'd hate to be the one that did though. Imagine the hate mail…**

**Points to note: Admiral Hackett's ship shall be dubbed "the _Washington_" following the tradition of every Alliance cruiser being named after a large city in the ME universe. Also, there will be none of that Renegon/Paragade bullshit here, I shouldn't have to say what morality Shep falls under, it should be clear to the reader. Obviously. **

**So, please, read, enjoy, review. In whatever order you please! **

* * *

_Good evening, i'm Henry Parker, and this is the ANN Report._

_It seems Commander John Shepard has made it onto our front-pages once more. His heroic deeds at the Battle of the Citadel rocketed him into galactic recognition, followed soon after by his untimely, yet temporary death. Needless to say, he hit the cover of every news-burst after his miraculous resurrection at the hands of Cerberus, and almost a year later, it was his return through the Omega-4 relay that captured our attention. It gives me great displeasure to report now however, the drive behind his latest burst of fame._

_Sources have revealed that it was his decision that led to the recent destruction of the Bahak relay, cutting off the Viper Nebula from the remainder of the galaxy. His actions have also been rumoured to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of lives. We here at ANN Report were stunned to hear about this blatant genocide. We can only assume what led him to destroy the relay, but one thing's for certain: where ever the Commander is now… if he's the hero he is, those lives will NOT weigh lightly on his conscience._

* * *

Scientists and researchers alike have hypothesised over the result of the destruction of a mass relay. Many say that the energy contained within the relays would be enough to rival the force of a supernova, should they ever be tampered with. They say that the force would be so great, it would wipe out entire systems, but overall, they were theories.

John finally had the evidence to support them, and it would stay with him for as long as he lived. Theory or not, those lives were gone. It didn't matter how. They could've died from the predicted explosion, or at the hands of the Reapers that were seconds away from entering the system, but ultimately, they were gone.

Had he had a choice, they would've been spared, but the destruction of that relay was essential for the survival of the galaxy. Even if it did make him the man behind the deaths of countless people. He had been in the armed forces for long enough to know that a soldier needed to move past their choices if they wanted to keep their sanity. So he bargained with himself.

_The moment I step out of this elevator, they'll be out of my head._

A beep came from the console, and the doors shot open to reveal the chipped white lettering that marked his cabin. Hesitantly, he lifted his boot over the threshold, coming so close to stepping off, but still hovering above the ground. Shepard knew the futility of his own self-bargain, but it didn't stop him believing that what he did made a difference.

His boot fell onto the cold metal floor, its thump rattling around in his cluttered mind. That was it. He accepted the fate that he was responsible for the deaths of thousands, and it hung like a lead weight at the bottom of his already frail heart. Just walking to the door was a terrible challenge, with every step dragging him closer to the floor. Every part of his body just yelled at him to give in and fall, as if the entire Bahak system was clawing at him from their graves. Before he knew it, he was on the cold metal ground, listening to nothing but the eerie hum of the _Normandy's _drive core. Shepard buried his face into his calloused hands, the tips of his fingers tingling as they ran over his short, stubbly hair. Everything closed in around him, choking him, an icy hand wringing the air from his lungs. He tried to find solace in the good of what he did, but nothing would tear him from the thousands of people he killed. Nothing.

"Commander? Shepard, are you all right?" came a sultry voice, laced with an Australian accent. It reminded him of Earth. One planet among many that was saved by his damning of the Bahak system. Clearly, he was mercilessly consumed by his own thoughts, as he was oblivious to the elevator reaching his cabin. Lifting his face out of his cold hands, his eyes fell upon the alabaster complexion of an angel. Miranda Lawson.

"Yeah, Lawson. I'm fine." heaving himself off of the floor, and bringing himself to his full height.

"Shepard, it doesn't take someone as skilled as me to know that you're lying." she said, as he hit the sensor to his cabin and paced into it. "You haven't been on deck for days, and I- the crew were worried sick." she declared, gulping down her true intentions. "Not to mention docking with the _Washington_. I know Admiral Hackett came to debrief you on what happened." hounding him even as he entered his bathroom.

John waved a hand over the tap sensor, cupped his hands under the steady flow of water and brought it over his face. He could feel the few scars that marked his skin; a few on his jaw line, and one on his right cheek.

"I'll be fine." he dismissed her.

"Which means that you're not fine now." leaning against the bathroom door with her arms crossed. Her expression belied the true concern that bubbled under the surface. On the outside, she was all business, showing little emotion. On the inside however, she was filled to brim with concern. The soldier that she admired and followed into battle was nowhere to be seen. All she saw now was the husk of a man who took the burden of thousands of lives to save trillions more. If she was still with Cerberus, she could've pawned off her concern as just "part of her job". Now, after her resignation, she had no leg to stand on, nothing to mask her true emotions over him.

He hadn't moved from the basin, his highly defined forearms propping him up over it. Water dripped from his face, following the sculpted line of his jaw, before falling into the sink.

Miranda could tell from his huddled form that he was close to breaking, and she knew why. The second the admiral had set foot on the ship, she'd sent Kasumi, the one person stealthy enough to spy on them for her. The former thief's shaken form had walked into her office only minutes ago, and the news she had to bear wasn't pleasant.

_You're not going to like it… I-I- don't even like it. _

_ Spit it out Kasumi, why was the admiral on board? _

_ Shep was on a mission for him. He was recovering some kidnapped Alliance agent. _

Miranda could still remember the subtle quiver in her voice and the confusion in her hooded eyes.

_Is that all? _

_ No. Something went wrong… look, I'm sorry, it's too hard to explain now. Just watch this…_

She remembered feeling her arm falter as she watched the recording, like it carried all the weight that John had to carry. It still hung over her now, as she leant against the entrance to his bathroom. Miranda could only imagine the burden that he must be dealing with though. Her concern was rightfully placed, of course. He was feeling a myriad of conflicting emotions. Eternal regret… immense pain… deep sorrow, but her? She could only feel angry at how narrow sighted the Alliance was. She knew that it wasn't a desired outcome, but in their line of work, sacrifices were unavoidable for the salvation of others. Shepard had to follow through with destroying the relay, it was for the sake of everyone in the galaxy. Finally, after hanging his head for what seemed to be forever, the Commander spoke up.

"I did what I could, Miranda. But Kenson, and everyone else, they were already indoctrinated. There wasn't enough time to evacuate the system." he admitted grimly. "After Virmire, and leaving Kaidan to die, I told myself I wouldn't leave anyone behind. I left an entire fucking system this time." running a hand over his scalp. "An entire system…" he whispered to himself.

"You can't think that, Shepard. What good would you have done dying on that asteroid?" strutting closer to him, following his empty blue eyes as he straightened up.

"At least I could've-"

"What? All you could've done was die. In vain I might add." she reasoned.

"But the entire system Miranda. The whole goddamn system is doomed. Those who aren't dead, are probably being harvested by the Reapers."

"Yes, but it gives the rest of the galaxy a fighting chance. You saved more people than you killed, John." feeling a foreign feeling rise as she said his name.

"I still have to face the Alliance, and the Batarians are calling for my head." waving his hand as he said so. "I want to forget about all of this, put it behind me, but with that hearing, its going to be near impossible."

"I never said you had to put it behind you." drawing herself closer to him. "It wasn't the best choice, but in this case it was the only one. You did the right thing, Shepard."

For the first time since their brief stint in the Engine room, they shared an embrace. Miranda perched her arms upon his tired shoulders, linking her fingers behind his neck. Shepard returned the gesture, grasping her curvaceous waist and pulling her closer to him.

"If its any consolation, I won't leave your side. Terrorist charges be damned." placing an assuring hand across his jaw.

He was instantly taken aback by this, and to both of their displeasure, he gently pushed her away.

"No. I can't let you do that, Miranda. As much as I want you there, yo-"

"John…" she interrupted him. "I'm not going to let you face this alone. After all you've done for me, with Oriana, it's the least I can do." she said as he paced out of the bathroom and back into his cabin.

"Miranda, you're going to be put to trial just for being with Cerberus." he argued.

Her demeanour held solid, not wanting to back down. She reached for him just as he was about to step down into his bed-space.

"I don't care. To hell with the trials. If I can't even support you throughout all of this, then what's the point?" she fumed.

_She's as stubborn as I am. _

Realising that arguing would be fruitless, Shepard breathed a deep sigh of surrender.

"Thank you." he admitted, causing Miranda to relax. He stepped down the small staircase and sat at the foot of his bed. "You know I want you to be there, more than anything in this goddamn galaxy. But the Alliance won't take kindly to it-"

"Who said they'd catch me?" smirking playfully at him as she mounted him, digging her knees on either side of his waist. Again, her arms found themselves perched upon his shoulders, feeling their strengthened resolve. Looking at her calm, yet seductive face, John felt rejuvenated, ready to face the Alliance Admiralty. Her peach coloured lips seemed to beg for his touch, and so he obliged, angling his head towards her. They met with a slow, breathtaking embrace. Their lips danced gently with each other, passionately conveying the emotions that words could not.

* * *

Shepard marched his way into the bridge of the _Normandy_, with Miranda trailing closely behind. Her hands were still smoothing down her raven-black strands of hair, tousled by their intimate session in his cabin. Joker was as always piloting the ship, his fingers expertly dancing around the holographic display.

"Joker, set a course for the Citadel. EDI, tell the crew to assemble in the Cargo hold." he ordered.

"Very well, Shepard." said EDI's disembodied voice as her avatar blinked on.

"Heading to the nearest relay, Commander." Joker obliged.

He nodded his acknowledgement, and turned to head for the elevator. Miranda stepped out of his way to let him pass, and then continued to follow him. He was striding with purpose, driven towards something. Granted, she could still see the burden pressing down upon him, but he was determined to carry it. If she had to say it, that would be one of the things that drew her close to John. His unyielding determination, his stubbornness. The times their equally resistant personalities locked horns were almost innumerable.

The doors slid open to admit the two of them, and they both stepped inside the carriage as EDI's voice rang on the ship-wide intercom.

"All non-essential crew, please report to Cargo hold." announced her synthetic voice.

"What's this about?" she asked him.

"The _Normandy's _final port of call. I know you're staying with me Miranda, but it doesn't mean I won't give anyone else the chance to get on with their lives." he explained.

John knew that she wouldn't argue against that, and she didn't. She gave a slow nod, and reached to give his hand a squeeze of support. They both knew they had to cherish these little moments that they had alone, as they couldn't be very public with their relationship. Despite her cold skin, he found a sense of warmth among her fingers intertwining with his. The console beeped, and the doors slid open to reveal the metallic cargo bay of the _Normandy._ Jack and Zaeed were already here, puffing in exhaustion as they put away punching dummies. The holes blown open by the Reaper Occuli were there as well, revealing the glistening expanse of space through the safety of the ship's kinetic barriers.

"So, you finally took my offer for piracy. Is that why the cheerleader's here? We're going to throw her out the airlock aren't we!" Jack remarked with a smirk on her face.

"Ha! Never ceases to surprise me, this one." Zaeed commented, jabbing a thumb at Jack as he approached Shepard.

"Stand down, Jack. Once everyone gets down here I'll explain."

The elevator doors behind him hissed open a few times before every non-essential crew member was standing before him and Miranda. He looked fondly upon their faces, Garrus standing next to Tali, towering over her lithe, suited frame. Kasumi and Thane were at opposite edges of the pack, standing stock still and observing as they did best. Peeking over the crowd, he could see Jack and Zaeed leaning against the wall next to the elevator, looking apathetic, yet threatening as always. Jacob stood to attention, sandwiched between Mordin and Grunt, clearly to mediate Mordin's strong scientific curiosity over Grunt's perfect krogan physiology. Samara stood almost dead centre in the pack, side by side with Dr. Chakwas, Legion's illuminated head just a few feet behind. Save for a few crew members, this was the team that he led into the fire and back out of it. They all looked at him with the utmost respect. Even Legion's eye-light seemed to glimmer with the Geth equivalent of admiration.

"I won't beat around the bush." John began. "For the past few days, I was on a mission that was handed to me by an Alliance colleague of mine, Admiral Hackett." he said as he paced back and forth. "The details of the mission are classified, but at this point, I trust all of you enough to let you know precisely what happened."

So, he elaborated on it. All of it. He owed them that much. He told them about rescuing Dr. Amanda Kenson, and the project she and her team were working on. When he was explaining the project, and Artefact Rho, Garrus interrupted.

"Wait a second. You're telling me that she had a Reaper artefact that told them when the Reapers were going to break system?"

"Yes. At that point in time, their ETA was near 48 hours."

"So they put thrusters on an asteroid and were going to launch it at the relay…" Tali mused.

"Yes, Tali. I was under the impression that the project was going ahead, until I hit a complication."

"Shepard-Commander, previous encounters with the Old Machines's artefacts have proven to have adverse affects on organic minds. Could it be possible that your complication was present because they were indoctrinated?" Legion vocalised.

"I wasn't aware of that until I was shown the artefact. But yes, they were indoctrinated."

He continued on with his recap, mentioning how he was knocked out for a while, and despite their attempts to sedate him, he woke up. The next parts didn't come back easily to him, but he had to own his decision to destroy the relay, and not be haunted by it.

"The countdown estimated their arrival at one and a half hours when I came around. It was clear what I had to do." he watched his crew's faces drop with understanding. "I tried to send out a warning to the rest of the system after I activated the engines, but Kenson cut me off." he pinched the bridge of his nose. Miranda placed a consoling hand on his shoulder, feeling a rush of strength pulse through him. "She was already past negotiation, hell-bent on witnessing the Reapers' might. She said it was a 'blessing', and that she'd stop me even if she had to set the reactor core to meltdown and destroy the whole damn asteroid."

"You killed that bitch, right Shepard?" Jack asked from the back of the bay.

"I had no choice. Even after I had stopped the meltdown, she threatened that she was going to cut power to the engines."

"That's one crazy bird, I'll tell you that." Zaeed chuckled.

"She obviously expected me to stop her, because she had rigged the engine room with explosives. I shot her, but she still managed to key the detonator. …I got knocked out in the explosion." all eyes were trained on him. Their faces were a mix of anticipation, and shock. "I came around, and the countdown had reached 30 minutes. It was then that I had to fight my way to the comm tower and hail the _Normandy. _That was when Harbinger appeared and spoke to me, told me that I was an annoyance for fighting the inevitable. By then, the countdown had scampered down to a few minutes. Thankfully, Joker got to me in time, and well… we were the last ones to ever use that relay." he finished, directly avoiding the casualties that would've been sustained, as the thought alone was already making him feel heavy.

"You actually destroyed the relay? Keelah…" exclaimed Tali.

"What about the batarians? Did they get warned?" Jacob asked in a concerned tone.

"Improbable. Dr. Kenson cut off all communications. No method of warning them. Plus, mass relays rumoured to wipe out entire systems when destroyed. No survivors." Mordin hastily added.

"There's no real way of knowing what happened to the system. All we know is that the Commander delayed the invasion." Miranda spoke up from behind his shoulder.

"That brings me to my main point of order." he said grimly. "The batarians want my head for what I did. Despite… why I did it, the Alliance has decided to put me on trial to avoid another war between the humans and batarians."

"What?" Garrus exclaimed.

"That's fuckin' bullshit!" yelled Jack from the back of the room.

"What a bunch of bosh'tets! You had to do it! The Reapers would be everywhere by now!" Tali almost screeched.

"Everyone, calm down." ushering them with his hands. "They didn't listen to me before, so there wouldn't be any reason for them to listen to me now." he said, finding it hard to not be angered by the moronic politics of it all. "As of now, we're heading for the Citadel. Joker, what's our ETA?" he spoke over the ship's intercom.

"We've got about three hours till we reach the relay, and we'll be in Citadel space soon after that." he replied.

"So, that means that you have 3 hours to reach a decision. The Citadel is going to be our final port of call." he announced, the words finally sinking in. "After that, I'll be heading to Earth to turn myself in for trial. I suggest you get on the comm channels to look for work, or a place to keep your head down. Fair warning, many of you will not be welcomed on Earth with open arms. I'll open a list for those who are leaving, and for your own good, I hope to see most of your names on there." with a final sigh of admittance, he said, "Crew dismissed."

* * *

**There's already a few chapters waiting for an upload. Not to mention a 5th/6th/10th edit. Drop a review, and we'll see if this story shall continue to see the light of day! **


	2. II

**Disclaimer: Mass Effect does not own to me.**

**In the light of his pending trial, Shepard announces the _Normandy's _****final port of call. The Citadel. Strengthened by Miranda's firm belief in him, he seems ready to face the consequences of his actions upon Aratoht and his destruction of a mass relay. Tali isn't happy with this, angered over her Captain's warnings being dismissed yet again…**

* * *

"They should've just listened to Shepard in the first place!" Tali said with a hint of irritation in her voice. "He would've never of had to destroy a whole relay!"

"Tali, they were scared. If you give the Council an alternative to a bad situation, they'll take the alternative." Garrus said, as Tali tapped away angrily at the engine core's console.

"It was blasting the Citadel apart right under their noses! And they thought that it was the Geth?" holding her hands up over the console in disbelief. "Do you know how many Quarians spoke up against the Council, telling them otherwise?"

"I'm guessing it wasn't a small number." he deadpanned.

"I'm serious Garrus." she said, turning to face him and putting her hands on her hips. "You of all people should know how politics can screw everything up!" she exclaimed.

She was right. In his entire life, he hadn't met a politician that he didn't think was a complete ass. Politics just ruined the course of justice, every time. He was stopped by so much political red tape back in his C-Sec days, not to mention being stonewalled even when they were tracking down Saren. Tali was right, he knew exactly how badly politics could screw things up.

"I know. But if you think about it…" propping himself onto a railing, "acknowledging the Reapers would cause so much fear among the people."

"So they just blatantly disregarded us… for the people?" she said, in a confused tone. "What about our preparedness against the Reapers? If there is even a way to prepare against them…"

Garrus's instincts perked up instantly.

_Did she get one too? I know it said to keep it to myself, but if I can't share anything with Tali, then what's the point of getting close to her? _

His mind floated easily away to it now, a small octagonal device that sat in the box it came in up in the Main Battery room. He couldn't decide what was more intriguing, the device itself, or the message it came with.

_To whom it may concern,_

_This is a communicator, that will convey one message, and one message only. When that message will arrive will depend on the course of your journey. It is in your best interest to keep this to yourself. Be advised that you are not being forced to keep this, but if you want to help stop the Reaper threat, this is your only choice. Should you agree against keeping the communicator, dispose of it in the most discreet way imaginable. _

_ Mortem Increduli. _

His first instinct was to crack it open, and try to back-trace the product back to who sent it. Alas, the seamless design offered no way of doing so without breaking it outright. His second instinct was gunned down by the last two sentences of the message. _…you are not being forced to keep this… _He had never come across a device that was meant to kill him, with such a considerate message attached to it. He was wrong to think that he was the _only _one to receive it though. In fact, there were three other people on the ship that received similar packages, keeping the same secret from one another, and Tali wasn't one of them. At this very moment however, Garrus was the only one that wasn't pacing curiously around the package like Mordin was. Or turning it over and over in his hand like Jacob was doing. Even if he was with the package, he wouldn't be levitating it in front of him, like Samara. But all four of them had the same amount of curiosity over the mysterious communicator. In fact, Garrus was getting antsy just standing in the engine room with Tali, wanting to go back and examine the communicator one last time.

"Uh… Tali, I'm going to go. I have to go do some… final calibrations on the main gun." he stammered, before leaving her alone.

"Oh, okay. That's fine. It's not like I wanted to talk to you about something anyway…" she mumbled under her breath as he strode out of Engineering.

The elevator ride and walk to the Main Battery took longer than he would've liked. The instant he stepped over the threshold, he keyed in the lock sequence on his omni-tool, shutting himself in. He thought that it was slightly overdoing it, since everybody would be making arrangements for their lives after the _Normandy_, but with the secrecy that shrouded the communicator, he wanted to be safe.

Out of the corner of his very keen eye, he saw the hard case that it came in, tucked in the back corner of the room, under his weapon bench. Clearing the bench, he retrieved it and placed it on the white metal surface. The box opened like an old turian music box, with the lid splitting down the middle and giving way to the shiny black face of the communicator. He leveraged it out of its foam protective casing, and weighed it in his right hand for the third time since its arrival. It wasn't much heavier than the spanners he used to tweak the guns, and it easily fit into the palm of his claw. The edges were silver, encasing its black glass face. There were no buttons, or signs of soldering. It just had a polished black face, and a silver casing that went all around to the back of the device. Garrus knew the futility of fiddling around with it, so he pushed it back into its box, and slid it away from him. His mind began to dwell on other things. Things that were pushed to the back of his conscious now came rushing at him like a charging krogan. The foremost of which, was what would happen now, after his mission with Shepard was over? Would he go back to training to be a Spectre? Or don his helmet and play vigilante as Archangel again? Even worse, was the thought of his growing relationship with Tali, and how life outside of the _Normandy_ would affect it. He often thought of any kind of intimate relationship with a person harder to maintain than his rifle, and Tali wasn't proving that to be otherwise. Just when he was about to spiral into a endless thought process, a blinking orange light appeared in his vision. At first, he thought it was a message on his omni-tool, but to his joyous surprise, it was the communicator. The message had finally come. His curiosity was about to be fed, and he hoped that he wasn't going to disappointed. He slid the box back in front of him, and tapped the blinking alert with his claw. It instantly lifted itself out of the box, and hovered in the air just inches from his face. Silently, it scanned the room, reminding him of the security protocols put in place at art exhibits on the Citadel. Once it was done, the communicator dropped back into its foam casing. It laid inactive for a few moments, and just as Garrus was about to reach out and grab it, it projected a flat line into the air.

"State your name and planet of origin." the device asked, the line quivering as it spoke.

"Garrus Vakarian. Palaven." he said proudly.

"State the name of the person that betrayed your squad." the voice asked plainly.

His mandibles widened in shock.

_This is some serious security tech._

"Lantar Sidonis." he grimaced.

"Voice print acknowledged. Package C safely in intended recipient's possession. Commence transmission."

The flat line gave way to an image of a person that he wasn't expecting at all.

"Garrus," Liara's voice began. "I know it's been a while, but I need you to listen. The Reaper Defence Agency wants you for their work, and I know you're not going to say no to it. " Garrus was about to talk back to the hologram, when it cut him off. "Don't bother talking back, it's a pre-recorded statement." the hologram smirking at his stunned expression. "In the eyes of the Reaper Defence Agency, you have shown considerable skill, namely your work as a C-Sec officer, your training as a Spectre…"

"_Incomplete_ training as a Spectre." uselessly correcting the hologram.

"your work as Archangel, the work you did with Shepard on our mission to stop Saren, and his mission to defeat the Collectors." she listed from a datapad she held in her holographic hand. "After I took over the Shadow Broker's network, I've been working with them, and it was under my recommendation that you should too. Our experience with dealing with Saren places us as one of the few people who have been in combat with Reaper forces. They need people like us to help them, Garrus. This device has already uploaded to your omni-tool the co-ordinates of a rendezvous point for you to be escorted to their nearest base of operations. The agency reminds you that you are in no way being forced into this by them, but as an old friend, I'm asking you to do this as a favour." she said pleadingly. "This is sudden, I know, but you know first-hand the destruction _one _Reaper ship is capable of. There won't be just one coming Garrus. We need your help. I hope to see you soon, Garrus." she finished.

The recording cut out, and he was left with the image of a broken curved blade, which he recognised as a human sickle. Under the blade, was a motto, written in a language that he had no knowledge of.

_Mortem Increduli. _

John's terminal was bursting with new messages, all from his crewabout their plans for life after the _Normandy_. He hadn't requested for these, but he was glad that they all had the decency to do so. Some of these he expected, like Grunt planning to return to Tuchanka, Jack and Zaeed going into freelancer mercenary work, and Tali going back to the Migrant Fleet. Legion's report surprised him however, stating that the geth unit was already gone, using one of the shuttles to track down another heretic base. He would've been outraged at the geth's insubordination, but what would that achieve? What surprised him even more was the cryptic reports that were given by several of his crew members. Despite their different wording, their messages all had the same subtext. That they all did in fact have something planned, but they weren't sharing it with Shepard. The secrecy shrouding Samara and Mordin's futures, he could understand. A justicar's life was veiled in shadows, and the projects that Mordin was known to associate with were higher than highly classified. So, they were understandable. However, Garrus was never one to keep a secret from him, seeing as they had been to hell and back together, twice. His trust in Garrus greatly outweighed his curiosity however, and whatever it was, John knew that the turian was more than capable of handling himself. As for Jacob, he didn't know the man well enough to assume what his plans were. Slivers of distrust still existed for the ex-Cerberus agent though, despite his recent work with Shepard, and his history as a loyal Alliance marine.

"What're you doing?" asked Miranda as she came through his cabin door.

"Nothing. Nothing. Just… looking over the crew's itineraries." he replied to her over his shoulder, his hands tented over his terminal.

"Oh yes, you're welcome for that." she said, almost as if she was boasting. "I knew you were going to need some kind of closure. They are your crew after all." smiling as she stepped down into his lounge area.

"Thanks." he said, picking up the terminal to join her on his lounge. "I didn't know you had it in you to be considerate." he joked.

"To be quite honest, it was more business than pleasure." she admitted. "Regardless of our relationship, I would've asked the crew to do that. It's should be done out of plain respect for our captain."

He simply nodded his heartfelt acknowledgement, and began reading through Jacob's itinerary again.

_Commander,_

_ I would like to forward my destination to you, but cannot due to its nature. It wouldn't be right to lie about it to you either, so I'm hoping that this should suffice enough as my itinerary. _

_ Respectfully, Jacob Taylor. _

"Something the matter, Shepard?" Miranda asked.

"There's something odd with some of these itineraries. Specifically Jacob's one." angling the terminal to face her as she moved closer to him.

"Hmm. Yes, that does seem suspicious." she said after skimming the message.

"You know him better than I do. He's not one to be secretive to commanding officers is he?"

"Definitely not. This is completely unlike him." she answered. "I'd have to say though, there's not much you can do to get him to confess it. Within _reasonable_ limits, of course." she gave a short pause, and pursed her lips before continuing. "I think you're trying to project your anxiety onto this to prevent thinking about the trial."

It dawned on him that she was speaking the truth. Somehow, she had fished into the depths of his mind, and pulled out the true meaning behind this that was beyond his own mental grasp.

"Dammit. You're right. Not like I expected less from the epitome of perfection herself."

If he didn't know better, John would've sworn he saw her marble white cheeks blushing for just a few moments.

"Despite my genetic enhancements, I'm lost when it comes to taking compliments." she said to herself.

"Really? I always just thought you'd shrug them off and act like you knew they were true already." John said cheekily.

"Okay fine. It's only when you do it." she admitted.

"Oh no. The brilliant Miranda Lawson has a weakness! Someone call the press!" John joked.

"John, I'm serious!" trying to keep her cold business mask on, instead succumbing to the warm smile that was hiding underneath. She lowered her head to defend herself from anymore playful ridicule.

"In all honesty though," taking her by the hand. "I'm glad you're going to be around for my trial. Even if you have to sneak around Alliance security."

"It seemed like a great place to start being a better partner to you. It requires me to use my best talents, while at the same time, giving you some form of moral support." she stated smartly.

"You've thought this whole thing out haven't you?" impressed by her forethought.

"I have to. I'm a meticulous planner, John. You should know that well by now." watching as he gently stroked her hand with his thumb.

"What time is it?" he wondered, and the display on his terminal lit up with a chronometer, displaying Earth-Standard time. "Only a few more minutes till we reach the relay, I should head up to the bridge. I'm sure you have some last minute work you can do." he said with a wink as he got up.

"If you're referring to all those times you came into my office, I actually did have work thank you very much!" calling out to him as he keyed the elevator.

The bridge was the one constant thing aboard the _Normandy._ No matter what hour it was, John would find Joker either piloting the ship, or snoring loudly in his pilot's throne as EDI had control of the ship. There'd always be such an overwhelming orange glow coming from the various displays and controls, that if it was brightened any further, John would need to shield his eyes every time he came to check up on Joker.

"Ah Commander! We're just about to hit the relay. I thought you'd come by." Joker exclaimed.

Through the ship's forward view ports, he could see the growing intensity of the chilling blue light that emanated from all mass relays in this galaxy.

"Plotting a course to the Citadel relay." Joker announced. "hitting the relay, in 3, 2, 1…"

John gripped the comfortable fabric of Joker's flight chair as the _Normandy _was propelled through the relay. Almost instantly, the front viewport was filled with the rose-white gas clouds of the Serpent Nebula, speckled with Council ships. The centrepiece of the scene, the Citadel, seemed to rise straight out of the gas clouds themselves, and its five wards held open in an unwelcome embrace.

"So this is it huh? Our final port of call before Earth." Joker mused. "Kinda makes me hate the Citadel even more…"

"I have to pay for my actions, Joker. As much as I don't like it, I do."

"Aye aye, Commander." he mumbled, guiding the ship towards Zakera Ward.

"Citadel Docking control, this is SSV _Normandy_ requesting docking permission."

"Permission granted, _Normandy_. Proceed to docking cradle B-13."

"Ugh, this is gonna suck." Joker said under his breath.

He found no comfort in knowing that he wasn't the only one to dread the crew's departure.

"All shore-leavers, we are about to dock. Ready your belongings and be ready to leave via the port-side airlock." EDI's disembodied voice rang throughout the ship.

_Yeah. This is going to be tough. _The Commander thought.

Down in the Executive Officer's Office, Miranda was routinely flicking through her messages. Ever since she'd resigned from Cerberus, her inbox had been less cluttered with official requests and dossiers. Now there was only the occasional reminder from a matchmaking site on the extranet, and updates from her sister, Oriana. She abruptly stood up from her desk to the viewport, admiring the view of the Citadel that lay behind the Normandy's port thrusters. Too many times has she been here on business trips, but she never saw the glamour and elegance that it was advertised to harbour. She saw the gritty underbelly of it, the gang dealings and backdoor genetic labs that ran behind the scenes. The Citadel was nothing but another Omega to her. She folded her arms and shifted her weight onto one foot, and looked up to see Thane pace out of the airlock, trailing behind Garrus and Tali. Her "admiration" of the Citadel view was interrupted by a shrill alert from her terminal. She paced casually back to her desk and tapped a few prompts before opening the message. Miranda's stormy blue eyes widened in fear as she read it. It was only one line, but it pushed her to fall back to her locker, rip it open, and cram her ceramic armour & guns into a black duffle-bag. Hastily, she ran around her room, grabbing everything that she needed and threw them into her bag, among her two Locust SMG's and armour. She forcibly zipped the bag up, threw it over shoulder and ran as fast as she could out of her office, leaving her terminal still powered up, with the message still left on the display.

_ALERT. ORIANA LAWSON REPORTED MISSING._

* * *

**Thanks to the five that reviewed the first chapter. It's a meagre number, but they were helpful regardless.  
**_  
_**It'd be awesome to see a lot more reviews, they really do help me shape this piece into something worth EVERYONE'S while, so just leave something by. The button _is_ just down there…**


	3. III

_**It's come to this. The Normandy's final port of call. John dreads the prospect of saying farewell to his crew, but he takes solace in the one farewell he doesn't have to say. Or so he thinks…**_

* * *

Saying good-bye to his crew was hard for John. It wasn't his entire crew of course, the essential ex-Cerberus members had to stay on to keep the ship running, but as heartless as it was to say, they didn't matter. What mattered was that he had to say farewell to the ragtag bunch of survivors that he gathered together himself. The people that he led in and out of hell on more than one occasion were now going to take their leave, the only silver lining being Miranda, the only person he didn't have to part from.

Predictably, Jacob was the first to reach the airlock. His military background bred steely discipline into him, so of course, he was right on time.

"Sorry again, Commander. The orders came from an old C.O of mine. You know I'd sure as hell tell you, but…" pausing awkwardly, "you understand." he apologised.

"Whatever it is Taylor," pushing aside his own curiosities, "good luck." offering a firm handshake.

He took the gesture with a nod, and without another word, marched out of the ship's airlock. After a few uneventful minutes, Mordin scurried up the main deck towards John.

"Shepard. Sad to go. But is, necessary. Offer my luck, and best wishes for your future." Mordin hurriedly stammered.

"You too, Mordin." taking the salarian's amphibious hand and giving him a final handshake.

Soon after, Samara came waltzing up to the airlock. She wore a stern, motherly expression, as always.

"It pains me that we have to part like this, Commander." she said, airily. "May the Goddess watch over you." she stated, giving a short bow.

"Good luck out there, Samara." John nodded.

She began to traipse down the docking tube, and he watched her do so, until a voice called out to grab his attention.

"Don't stare too long, the cheerleader might get jealous." Jack joked.

Both her and Zaeed were swaggering towards him, their bags and equipment in tow. He didn't expect an extravagant good-bye from either of them, seeing as they both seemed to shun any form of sentiment.

"See you never, Commander." Jack smirked as she stepped off of the ship.

"Give those Alliance bastards what for, eh Commander?" Zaeed said encouragingly, as they both stepped onto the docking tube.

Not too far behind, was Grunt, heaving two foot-lockers worth of equipment and his custom-made Claymore shotgun like they were bags of feathers.

"Shepard, thank you, for letting me out of my tank. Maybe someday I can have the glory of meeting you in battle." Grunt deeply intoned.

"I hope so too Grunt. You're the best krogan I've fought with. Just don't tell Wrex that." clapping him on his shoulder armour.

"Yeah, he'd finally get off of his throne on Tuchanka just to prove you wrong." Garrus joked from over Grunt's shoulder. He stood there, towering over Tali, with both of their bags in tow. Grunt nodded his good-bye, and lumbered down the docking tube, leaving him with the two crew members that were by his side on his hunt for Saren, and his mission against the Collectors. These two were going to be the hardest to part with. Twice over did they risk their lives by his side. The relationship forged between the three of them was tougher than the best ablative armour on the market.

"Keelah. I never wanted this day to come, Shepard." Tali said, on the verge of tears.

"Oh come on now Tali, it's not like it's good-bye." Garrus said, consolingly. "We thought it was good-bye after Saren, and we definitely thought it was good-bye when Shepard here died, but look how that turned out." dropping her bag to place his claw on her shoulder. "If there's anything I'm certain of, it's that this isn't the last time we'll be seeing the commander." giving John a hopeful nod.

"You're right." sniffing audibly. "We better get going. I hate getting tears in my bio-suit." approaching him with her arms outstretched. "I'll see you soon Shepard." pulling him into a hug.

"Don't expect a hug from me." Garrus joked as he followed Tali down the docking tube.

Instead, he offered his claw in a handshake. "It was an honour serving with you, Shepard. I just hope that I get to do it all again."

"Same here Garrus. Good luck out there." taking his claw in a firm grip and shaking it.

He watched as they walked down the tube. All the excruciating good-byes were over with, thankful that he didn't have to part with Miranda. John turned on his heel to see Thane rounding the corner, his posture deadly straight as always.

"Shepard." he nodded plainly. "I guess this is farewell. May Arashu watch over you." his voice raspy as always. "Oh and before I forget, Kasumi has asked me to tell you that she has left a gift in your cabin, and says that she's sorry, but she hates saying good-bye." he noted.

"I guessed as such. Good luck with the rest of your life, Thane."

That was it. All of the good-byes were said and done. He felt empty, as if the vacant rooms and compartments of the ship were a part of his body. There was nothing left to do but face the trial, grateful that he had Miranda to see him through it. With a heavy heart, he paced towards the bridge to give Joker the order to leave when footsteps all too familiar began tapping towards him.

"Commander! John, wait!" Miranda exasperatedly called out.

He turned to face her, and when he saw her baggage, his heart sunk.

"My sister's gone missing, John. I can't stay, I have to go and find her!" she exhaled.

"What? No, stay we'll fi-"

"I can't Shepard, you're about to go on trial. You won't be able to help without causing another diplomatic uproar." her slender hand cupped his jaw. "I know I said that I'd see you through this, but it's my sister Shepard. It could be Cerberus, or even worse, my father behind this."

He knew when he had no say in a situation, and to have no say in _this_ situation angered him. Shepard opened his mouth to protest, but she shot up to ensnare his lips and silenced him. The passion, and fervour in her kiss made him realise how unstoppable this was. The way she gripped at the back of his neck told him that it was the last time she would see him for a long, long time. Despite how it made him feel hollow and empty, he pushed himself back up against her, returning the act with equal desperation. They seemed to go on forever, but when they broke apart, the reality began to slowly crush them. He took a long gaze into her stormy blue eyes, soaking up their last moment together.

"Here," hoisting his dog-tags out of his shirt and above his head. "Take them." pushing them into her hands.

There was no argument, no hesitation. Miranda needed no explanation, nor was Shepard prepared to give one. She clutched the tags, and ran into the docking tube, her duffle-bag of supplies in tow. She only took one look back at him, one painfully fleeting look, and disappeared down the tube.

* * *

Disheartened and discouraged, John paced into his cabin, met by the pallid blue light of his empty, lifeless fish tank. He made the decision a while back not to fill the tank up, with the fear of growing attached to them heavily affecting that. Now, he stood, alone in the harsh glow, unable to call on Miranda to make the loneliness disappear. All of his crew's faces blew past him in a blur of farewells, but it was Miranda's face that lingered in his mind. To put it short, he was disparaged. He stepped into his bathroom, feeling the urge to wash his face clean. It was a delusion of his that the act did more than cleanse his face, believing that it washed all his problems away. He found peace in the cool water pooling against his face, and then flowing off. His hand shot out to find a towel, finding instead the glass surface of a datapad. It was an odd place for it to be, but remembering Thane's message, he realised where, or more appropriately, _who_ it came from.

It activated as soon as he touched it, lighting up with a vid recording. Instantly, he recognised the scene, it was a high angle shot of Miranda's office. The woman herself was pacing back and forth, with her fingers perched under her chin, and her boots tapping against the floor. From her expression, it was clear that she was concerned. Something that was rare enough that the mere sight of it made John worry. Anyone who knew her pinned her as the professional business woman, cold, ruthless, and driven. There were a few rare occasions he'd seen her show any sign of unease at all. A woman like her had everything under control, because the alternative was unacceptable to her. Illium was the sole exception, given that her only sister was being held against her will back then. John was actually envious of Oriana for all the attention she received from Miranda. Now, even with the lack of her presence, he was glad that he knew just how much she did care for him, even if she didn't show it as much. Looking on the expression she held in the recording however, he saw a different kind of concern. It was as if someone had threatened someone she deeply cared about, someone who could only be Oriana, considering the severity of her consternation.

The recording however, said otherwise.

"I've got nothing on him, Miranda. All my Alliance contacts are coming up dry. Why can't you use yours inste-" Kasumi exclaimed as she stepped into the office.

"I've already tried them! They were useless! As the Alliance always is…" Miranda fumed.

"Cerberus must've wanted to keep an eye on him, you must've slipped him a tracking chip, right?" Kasumi asked.

"Not on him, on his armour." stepping over to her terminal. "It went dark after it hit the asteroid belt."

Kasumi had leaned in to see what Miranda had pulled up onto the terminal's display, her expression hidden from the camera's vision.

"Where could he be? It's been two days!" said Miranda in frustration.

"We'll find Shepard, Miranda. I promise."

Loudly, Miranda sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You're dismissed." she said, avoiding eye contact.

After a few moments, Miranda was left alone in her office. The camera view shifted as it followed Miranda to her living-space. Exhausted, she sat down at the foot of the bed, her stern exterior failing as the seconds passed. It was almost like a chilling nightmare, seeing Miranda so… bare. A glisten trailed down her cheek, and John almost dropped the datapad in disbelief. It was a single tear, but it came from the eye of one of the strongest people he knew, and that's what made it mean so much. Miranda had shown her true colours, and over him no less. It was a bittersweet present, but as of that moment, John didn't care to see it as anything but simply sweet. For as long as he was apart from her, this datapad was not going to leave him.

* * *

"So, uh… this is it huh?" Garrus said as he rubbed the back of his scaly neck.

"I suppose it is." Tali half-mumbled.

Neither of them were at a loss for words. If anything, they had a million things to say. The problem was how to say it. So, there they stood, amongst the bustling crowd of dock G-18, mentally dancing around the large grey elcor in the room.

"Look, whatever it is you're going to do Garrus… be careful okay?" she said, trying to defuse the silence between them. "I really wish you could just tell me, you know how much I hate secrets." she pleaded.

He wanted nothing more than to tell her, but he didn't know just how deep this organisation went, and what loose lips would cause. If what Liara said was true, and this "RDA" truly were the only way to stop the Reapers, then he wasn't going to take any chances.

"I can take care of myself, Tali." he paused as an announcement rang over the P.A.

_"Five minutes till final boarding call for Flight 320-A: Citadel to Migrant Fleet." _

"There's your cue. Take care, okay?" he said as he held out her luggage.

Neither of them still had any idea over how to get their feelings out. Garrus cursed the quarians' elaborate history, and their inability to wear anything but a life-suit. To say he was a good judge of character was a fair assumption, but the one exception was when the person was a quarian. Normally, he'd be able to discern the emotions of a person from their facial expressions, but with her life suit, it made it near impossible for him to do so. He had no idea if the emotions he'd been experiencing during their final months aboard the _Normandy_ were reciprocated. Before the communicator came, he would constantly fuss over his life after the _Normandy._ But he was always certain of one thing; having Tali in his life. He chastised himself for how corny it was, but just because it was corny, doesn't mean he could deny it. Now, they stood at a crossroad. She was about to go back to her people, and he was about to ensure that he did his part in saving the galaxy. Whatever puny reason that hindered him from getting his feelings out, he needed to be rid of it.

"Tali, I… uh…" he began.

"Final boarding call for Flight 320-A: Citadel to Migrant Fleet."

_Dammit. _

"I'll… I'll see you later." he finished.

Through her mask, Tali's face dropped in disappointment. Garrus dropped her bags at her side. He didn't even try for a farewell hug. Instead, he just lingered awkwardly for a few moments, before turning on his heel back towards the checkpoint. Had she truly read into his body language, she would've known how conflicted he was over this moment. Never had he met such an impasse before, at least a cave-in was solved with a few packs of explosive gel, but _this…_ this required a finesse that was unknown to him. So, Tali was left to heave her luggage over to the boarding tube herself. A male quarian attendant was waiting for her at the gate, patiently waiting for Tali's boarding pass.

"Uh… Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." she said as she slowly handed the assistant her pass.

"Oh! I know you, you were with Commander Shepard when he saved the Citadel!" the attendant gasped. "I have to ask… was that turian, the one you had carry your bags, was he _the_ Garrus Vakarian?"

"Yeah, that was him." grimacing slightly at his departure.

"I bet you two are close! I mean, you can't be on the same team, and risk your lives together and not be close. One has to assume." the young quarian excitedly said. "Anyway, I'm probably bothering you," he said as he looked down at her boarding pass, "enjoy your trip, and Keelah…" holding her marked pass out, only to see her marching away, luggage in tow.

"Damn you, Garrus." she hissed under her breath. "I don't care if you're on some silly Spectre mission, that is not how you say good-bye to a girl!"

* * *

As far as he could tell, he was heading in the right direction. Garrus was moving deeper and deeper into the ward, noticing the gradual change in sophistication as he did so. The last time he'd seen a proper C-Sec office was back on Level 25, and he was somewhere near level 7 now. Thanks to the keepers, the infrastructure looked somewhat presentable, but that didn't deter the shady types that were speckled among the promenades. From his keen eye, he could determine that nearly every single one of the people he walked by was packing some sort of firepower. He even saw someone that may have been Jack's cousin, with their elaborate tattoos, and blatant disregard for clothing. Most of the shop-spaces were shut away, adding to the strange desolation that was apparently unheard of here on the Citadel.

A quick glance at his omni-tool told him that the rendezvous point was just around the corner, just past a group of loitering batarians, who seemed to be playing some sort of card game. Oddly enough, none of the people he'd passed made him feel on edge. Of course, he'd gone toe-to-toe with an entire Collector base _and_ three rival mercenary gangs, so it wasn't expected. Despite this, something _was_ making him feel uneasy. It was the sneaking suspicion that he was being followed. It was nagging at the back of his neck for a few levels now. Whoever was doing it though, knew how to be stealthy, either that, or had some decent cloaking tech. Regardless, he needed to throw off his tail. He was told to be discreet with this, and whoever was tailing him wasn't going to catch him with his pants down.

_Now that's a human saying I understand. _

Purposely, he passed the door that would've been his destination, continuing down the promenade until he hit a side service alley with a dipping catwalk. His turian physiology granted him a wide field of vision, and using it, he saw the flicker of a novice cloak trailing to his left, just behind a hooded figure leaning against a wall. Casually, he turned into the alley, and hoped that the catwalk was low enough for him to grab onto. Throwing his bag onto the catwalk, he launched himself upwards off the wall and heaved himself up. A figure began to shimmer into vision, a figure that made his mandibles widen with shock.

"Dammit! Where did he go!" Tali cursed silently.

Her lithe frame turned around a few times, searching fruitlessly for him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Garrus hissed as he dropped from the catwalk.

"What the hell am I doing here? Following you, you bosh'tet! That's what!" she burst, unfazed by the nature of his sudden appearance. "I don't care if you're on some top secret mission for the council, or on some petty errand, you do not leave a girl without a decent good-bye!" poking his chest-plate with an accusing finger.

"I-uh-" he stammered.

"I can't believe I thought you were actually worth my time! I've been throwing all of these signals at you, trying to get you to see, but no! You were too concerned with your damn calibrations!" she yelled, her voice garnering attention from the scum around the alley. "I hope whatever it is that brought you here was worth it, because you were not!" she finished, fuming.

For once, the mask didn't stop him from reading her emotions. How could he miss them when they were so out in the open like this. He was genuinely speechless. Nothing he could say would fix this. His mandibles hung off of his face, making him look as dumb as Tali was making him out to be.

"Garrus? Tali?" called out a voice from the small crowd. He peeked over to see the dark chocolate skin of Jacob appear amongst the shady types. "Hey, move along, nothing to see here!" he announced, ushering the few people away. Garrus was glad that he showed up when he did, given that he practically saved him from Tali's irritated onslaught. "What are you two doi-"

His last sentence was cut off by the deadly hiss of a pistol, and his face dropped in stunned surprise. It was all too familiar to Garrus, the way his eyes rolled back into his head. It was the face of a dead man. Lifelessly, Jacob's body dropped to the floor, a faint trail of smoke drifting upwards from his back. Instinctively, Garrus placed himself in front of Tali, and scanned around for the threat. The crowd that Jacob ushered away was now herding back around his body, eyeing him with shock. It was fruitless to search, because nearly every single person in the crowd looked corrupt enough to be the culprit. Garrus saw nothing, no signs of the assailant, not even a trace. Cursing under his breath, he knelt down over Jacob's body. The entry wound was already cauterised, passing right between his shoulder blades. A pang rose deep within his stomach. He knew the man to be a good soldier, one who followed orders, and to have him die like this, shot in the back in the rare slums of the Citadel was a disgrace to his service.

"…get a med-team prepped…" ushered a faintly familiar voice.

Garrus looked up to see the slim figure of a salarian weave through the crowd and push back the hood on his long, flowing cloak.

"Captain Kirrahe?" he said in disbelief.

"Unfortunate that we have to meet again like this, hmm?" he said quickly to both him and Tali.

"It's no use, captain. He's dead." Tali grimaced.

"Garrus, you take Tali into that door right now!" pointing out the same door that was marked on his map.

"We can't just leave Jacob here!" she yelled in protest.

"Just do it! I'm going to find the bastard that did this!" shooting upwards and running to find the killer. "Dammit, Liara is NOT going to be happy about this…"

* * *

_**I'll be honest, I don't think this is one of my stronger chapters, but I can't gather why. So, that's up to you, please, for the love of whatever deity you believe in, criticise the shit out of this. The button IS just down there… **_


	4. IV

_**With the fleeting image of Miranda fresh in his mind, John travels to Earth to face the trial that awaits him. It didn't matter to him, not with the slow, creeping fear of the Reapers advancing on him every step of the way…**_

* * *

Stepping into the bridge, John stumbled and clutched Joker's seat with whitened knuckles as the _Normandy_ broke Earth's upper atmosphere. A blinking alert came up on the display and Joker tapped it, opening up a comm channel to Vancouver-Seattle Docking Control.

"This is SSV _Normandy_ requesting permission to land." Joker said in the most official tone he could muster.

"SSV _Normandy_, you will be escorted to Dock 55A. Under Alliance authority, your ship is hereby declared grounded for the duration of Commander John Shepard's trial." the operator declared.

"Acknowledged." Joker said, instantly disparaged by the official command. "Shit, I can't believe they're grounding me again. Goddamn Alliance." he mumbled.

Shepard was still trying to prepare himself for what lay ahead. No doubt there would be long, grinding days stuck before a tribunal, not to mention having to acclimatise himself to living on Earth. As a child, he grew up in space, used to the treated air and artificial gravity. He was always going somewhere, even when he was standing still. Living on a planet, and being stripped of the freedom of ship-borne life was going to be difficult to get used to. That, and the tedious process of hearings, coupled with the absence of Miranda at his side would no doubt drive him mad. As Joker continued to pilot the _Normandy_ towards the docking bay, John painfully remembered the absence of the tags that would often jangle at his chest. At least they were with someone who needed them, as a reminder that there was someone that was waiting for her when she was done with her business. Time was fleeing everyone nowadays, and he was more aware of it than others. Deep inside, he wished that she would get Oriana to safety before their time was taken by the icy, creeping hands of the Reapers.

The _Normandy_ glided into a warehouse sized docking bay and was held in place by a couple of magnetic docking clamps. The portside airlock shook as the boarding bridge latched on. A few seconds later, the doors hissed open, giving way to a squad of navy-blue Alliance Marines, lead by an old friend of his. Ashley Williams.

Even more had changed since he last saw her on Horizon, almost a year ago. Gone was her tightly wound bun, replaced by a looser ponytail. Her face seemed to have paled, losing the service tan that most marines had received from their time in the field, and her armour was different to those of the stock standard set. It was still plated, but its hue was lighter than the norm, and had white accents running from her shoulder to her cufflinks. Her breastplate didn't show the Gunnery Chief Insignia like he had expected, instead, the stripes of Staff Lieutenant were gracing her armour.

"Finally kicked the Williams curse, huh?" he joked.

"Commander." she nodded, disregarding his quip. "Good to see you again. You'll have to follow me." motioning with her head towards the airlock.

With no other choice, he followed her, surrounded by four armed guards carrying M-15 Vindicator Rifles. His instincts were instantly piqued. It was standard for a marine to carry an M-8 Avenger, and they were seldom seen without one. On a hunch, he looked to the collars of the soldiers' plating. Their ranks were expected, with none of them lower than Serviceman 1st Class, but their lack of an N7 designation patch was not. In place of it was a broken black sickle; hardly noticeable unless they were in a well-lit environment like the corridor he was being marched down. He started to keep on his toes, unsettled by the change in protocol. Ashley kept strutting down the corridor, and he noted its strange distance and the sterile whiteness of its walls. His previous times on Earth were brief, so his knowledge of the local establishments was limited to training camps and memorials. John could tell however, that this was nowhere near a tribunal. Most tribunals would have bustling assistants and NCO's roaming the halls, creating an organised frenzy. Here, the hallway was empty, save for two guards that stood at attention outside an elevator door at the end of it. When the escort reached the elevator, Ashley turned on her heel.

"Men, report back to the _Normandy._ You all have your orders for the crew. Remember, it's their choice, do not force it on them" she said in a commanding tone. "Commander, give me a second."

The two elevator guards, plus the four-man escort all followed her order. She proceeded to take a step forward, standing in the centre of the outline of a circle on the floor. What happened next, was what John recognised as a biometric scan. Her entire body was swept in a green scanning light, and she began to be surrounded by holographic read-outs. After a few seconds, the words "Ashley Williams - Combat Consultant" were plastered across her torso in green lettering, and then disappearing as she stepped off the panel.

"All right, your turn. Just step onto the panel and wait for the all clear."

Cautiously, he took a step onto the panel. He was swathed with green light, sweeping down his body, and then across his face. From the inside of the panel, he could read what his results were. The mention of cybernetics came up frequently, with the occasional alert of irregular cellular replication and repair. A full-body map lit up the presence of his eezo nodules, overlaid with the faint outlines of his precious implants. What stunned him most however, was a body map to the right of his face, highlighted in faint orange dots swimming over his body. A phrase scrolled out from under it; "Reaper Nanite Count - Low/Moderate". He had never heard the phrase before, and to see it now, in an Alliance facility made him all the more suspicious. Not long after, the words, "John Shepard - Combat/Tech Consultant" lit up in front of him, and the doors to the elevator hissed open. An emblem was plastered on the elevator wall, resembling a broken sickle, a tool used on Earth centuries ago. Underneath were two words that were written in Latin, an old-Earth dialect, which said "Mortem Increduli". His Latin was extremely rusty, but he was able to get the first word.

_Mortem… Mort… death? _

He wanted answers, and didn't even wait until Ashley got inside the elevator to ask them.

"What's going on? Why aren't I in some kind of hearing right now?" his voice rising with impatience.

"Look, skipper…" he could already tell she wasn't going to say anything. "I can't tell you much. Only that your warning about the Reapers didn't fall on deaf ears." she told him, just as the elevator doors opened. His jaw dropped. Rushing around a low-lit metallic room, were aliens that were almost rare on Earth. There were asari, turian, salarian, and krogan, all bustling around the room. There were even a few Volus arguing with a human not too far from the elevator. It was a sight to be seen only on the classiest of Citadel locations, and to see it here on Earth meant that there was something massive going on. The elevator opened onto a platform that lined the walls of the room, with six holo-tables sitting in centre, just below the platform. Directly across from him were a few offices, encased in multi-tint panes of glass. It had the familiar air of a war room, mixed in with the sterilised stench of a research facility.

"…we need to know if our funding is going to the right people, earth-clan." one of the volus' breathed heavily.

"And you will! Have you not seen our work on anti-indoctrination? That alone has already proven that our plight against the Reapers is worth the money!" argued the man in a bulging lab-coat. John could see the familiar sheen of ablative ceramic plating peeking out of the lab coat's collar. The man stood 5"11' high, just around Shepard's height.

"Our investors were impressed, Dr. Janus, but they need to know that it won't stop there." the second volus exhaled loudly.

"It won't stop until every last damn Reaper is destroyed, and you better quote me on that." jabbing a finger at each of the volus.

"V-very well then. Farewell, earth-clan, we will keep in touch." waving a stubby hand and leading his associates into the elevator that John and Ashley had just vacated.

"Williams, you better have-" cutting himself off as he locked eyes with John. "Commander John Shepard, it is an honour." grasping his hand with both of his own and shaking it firmly. "Don't worry, I won't go and recite your service record. You get enough of that anywhere you go! I'm Nathan Janus, director of the Sol branch of the Reaper Defence Agency." his voice was sprinkled with the faint hint of a London accent. "Sorry for the confusion, we couldn't just grab you, not with that 'trial' you've got on. Don't worry, I'll explain the situation…" At that moment, an asari approached Nathan, with a datapad in her hands.

"Director, Citadel branch is requesting a conference call." handing him the datapad. "Also, the probes we've tapped into in the fringe systems show rising levels of Hawking radiation."

"Thank you, Nealia. Have the astrophysicists on our Illium branch compare that with the Primary database."

John's eyes couldn't decide what he was going they were going look at. The holo-tables in the centre of the room were swathed with data, coming from sources unknown to him. Salarians and Humans in white lab coats were emerging from a door on the eastern side of the room, conversing in low tones to each other. His vision was averted to Nathan as he crossed John, and towards the west side of the room.

"Commander, Ashley, follow me. I'll give you a brief run through of our work," weaving around a pair of conversing turians. "Our organisation was formed a few months before the Battle of the Citadel by an ex-Cerberus splinter group." glancing back to check his expression. John's eyes narrowed in pain, the thought of Miranda's departing face still fresh in his mind.

"Not many ex-Cerberus splinter groups would stay alive for long." John grimly said, his worry for Miranda's safety growing.

"And they didn't. But they did manage to leave behind a database with all their research." reaching a door, that opened into a semi-circular room, with three other doors spread across the curved wall. "Now, I'm sure you know of Cerberus' doctrine, having their research groups isolated from each other, each solely focused on one field." marching up to the left-most door, swiping a clear plastic card over the sensor, and walking into the room beyond. There was a conference table, with a dozen chairs surrounding it. "This splinter group was concerned with the research of ancient artefacts, specifically of Reaper origin. You, specifically, also know that the Illusive Man isn't for destroying the Reapers, not if he could use them for humanity's benefit." standing in the doorway.

"So they were studying the effects of Reaper artefacts, but they would've had to study counter-indoctrination techniques then. Cerberus is smart enough to know about the indoctrinating effects." remembering the conversation Nathan and the group of volus.

"You were right about him, Ashley. He's not a typical soldier after all." He said, cracking an impressed smile at Ashley, who inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Spot on, Commander. Oh yes, I'll have to leave you with Ashley, I'm going to need to take a call in the next room." leaving through the door soon after.

"What? Doc, you know I'm no spook, I'd just confuse the commander!" she burst.

"Ashley, I know you've been reading into our databases, you should be able to give Commander Shepard here a good enough explanation." nodding his farewell.

"Right, yeah, so where were we? Anti-Indoctrination." Ashley said to herself as she took a seat. John followed suit as she continued. "Turns out Reapers use tiny robots that get into your body to indoctrinate people, and these 'nanites' emit tiny pulses of radiation near your nerve cells that culminate to gently influence the host. To make the long story short, the researchers used modified medicinal techniques used on Earth last century to seek out the nanites, latch on, and disable them using controlled EMP bursts. Some paranoid ambassador with a lot of money, found that research, and started this up. Ever since we saved the Councillors, the RDA's been funded by the Council."

"That's not possible. The Council ignored my warnings." John shook his head.

"Sorry, _secretly _funded. They did want to keep the idea of a Reaper invasion private, you know, for politics. Apparently it'd cause 'a panic'" rolling her eyes as she said so. "But you can forget about it now. Since then, they've expanded wildly. The Reaper Defence Agency has outposts in Council space, the Terminus Systems, and the Attican Traverse. With representatives from Salarian STG, the Turian Marines, and nearly every branch of Asari military development." spanning her hands to show just how far they reach. "As of now, we're focusing on defending ourselves against the Reapers, which is why you're here. We also intended one of your crew-members to be here as well, Ms. Miranda Lawson, but we got word of her sister going missing, so she's obviously not coming…" trailing off at the end of the sentence, noticing the blank expression that grew on Shepard's weathered face. "Are you all right, skipper?" she asked reassuringly, placing her hand on his.

There was no instant comfort that came with it. Not like Miranda's touch. It only made him feel more pain at the emphasis of her absence.

"I'll… I'll be fine." he lied.

"If you say so, Commander." lifting her hand.

"So what am I here for?" he asked, trying to keep the ball rolling.

"Essentially the same reason I'm here. We've both fought against Reaper tech, and lived to tell the tale. You're going to help with testing the weapons the spooks made, and since you've got that Prothean beacon burned into your brain, they're gonna try and make a copy somehow."

"Well then it's clear that I'm in it for the long haul." accepting his future. "The trial was all a ploy then?"

"Yes, and no. You will have to appear before the Admirals to please the rest of the galaxy, but several influential Alliance officials have agreed that your actions were justifiable." she explained. "Although a few did want your head impaled on a stick…"

"Mikhailovich?" he guessed.

"Him and a few others." she admitted.

He nodded in acknowledgement and leaned back into the chair. A small silence passed between them, and John desperately felt the urge to fill it.

"So uh… when did you join up?" he asked.

"It must've been a few months after I got back into the marines. After… after you died." fumbling with her fingers and averting his gaze. "I got a call from Anderson, and he umm… recommended I work with them, and yeah, I've been here ever since."

"What about Horizon?" he asked, whether it was out of curiosity, or to bring up what happened there, he didn't know.

"What do you mean?" she asked in return.

"Were you there for the Alliance? Or the RDA?" ignoring the itch in his mind to talk about their spat.

"Kind of both. The Alliance did need those turrets up and running, but the RDA heard about potential Cerberus activity in the area, so yeah." giving a brief explanation. "Turns out it was you." she said with just the tiniest hint of disdain.

"I'm sorry about that by the way, Ash." he apologised. "I never thought you'd take it that harshly…"

"It's… fine. In the past, all of that." waving him off. "Sure, you were working with the same guys that killed your entire squad on Akuze, and the people that were responsible for Noveria, but that's just water under the bridge now isn't it?" she said sarcastically.

The air between them grew heavy with tension. It was clear that she disapproved of his work with Cerberus, but he never knew just how much.

"So do th-"

"I just can't understand why! Why, Commander? Why Cerberus?" she burst, cutting him off.

All gloves were off. John didn't take outbursts lightly, especially from subordinates.

"I'm not with them anymore, Williams! Hell, I wasn't with them to begin with! Entire colonies were disappearing, and they were the only people that cared enough to do anything about it!" he defended himself, shooting forward in his chair. "You need to stand down!"

"I don't take orders from you!" she retaliated. "You don't just leave Cerberus, John! You said it yourself!"

"What are you saying? That you don't trust me?"

"I have to though, don't I? You're the only one that the galaxy can count on right now. That's why you're here, but lets make on thing clear, _John_." putting her finger on the table. "Just because the galaxy's trusting you, doesn't mean that I do." jabbing a thumb at herself. She reached around the back of her waist to pull out a datapad. "Here. You can show yourself around." tossing the datapad towards him, and storming out.

"Shit." said John regretfully.

* * *

In the next room, separated from the sudden disagreement between John and Ashley, Nathan paced thoughtfully across the length of the scarcely lit room, as the graceful asarian features of Dr. Liara T'Soni filled the monitor.

"It seems we've had our first casualty in the history of the organisation." Liara mused, her graceful asari features filling up the monitor.

"At the hands of those Cerberus bastards too. They've been a thorn in our side for as long as I can remember. Their attacks are becoming more and more frequent… just as I predicted." He mused. "Are the rest of the recruits safe?" he asked.

"Yes. The Justicar, and Dr. Solus had both made it here before the shot was fired." thoughtfully, Liara tilted her head away and tapped a finger to her blue-skinned chin.

"Something on your mind, Dr. T'Soni?"

"Well… yes. Yes, there is." she answered.

"Do you mind sharing it, or is it going to stay up in that pretty head of yours?" he said cheekily.

"There's no need for flattery Dr. Janus." she stated simply, before continuing into her thoughts. "The attack occurred so close to base. Cerberus is smarter than this. They could've capitalised on it and turned it into a full scale disablement of Citadel branch."

"Jacob Taylor was an ex-operative of Cerberus. The assailant was purely tying up loose ends." he attempted to explain.

"Yes, but our dealings with Cerberus in the past have suggested that they don't miss an opportunity. It would have been logical of them to take out Garrus, as well as Mr. Taylor. That would have crippled us so much more." she elaborated.

"What are you insinuating exactly?"

"Cerberus is falling apart." she guessed.

"You're kidding." he scoffed. "To make such an outlandish assumption, based on just one occurrence… it's just that! It's outlandish! Liara, I haven't known you for long, so if you're this impulsive all the time, then I think your directorship of Citadel branch is a tad premature." he said cautiously.

"Dr. Janus. I do not act without profound predicated thought. That is one thing that you will know about me sooner or later." she said, in a tone of warning.

"You better not." matching her tone. "Anti-Cerberus initiatives are _my _jurisdiction. I'm not saying you're wrong, just know that I won't tolerate any kind of black-ops bollocks." he added. "Speaking of defence initiatives, the Justicar, how well did she take the offer?"

"She's taken her oath. After Kirrahe finishes off his report, the two of them will be on the next transport to the Ismar Frontier cluster."

"And what of the salarian? Dr. Solus?"

"I believe he is on his way to Illium as we speak."

"Good, thank you for that. Have you briefed Mr. Vakarian yet?"

"Yes, I had a brief word with him and Tali-"

"I'm sorry, who?" he asked in confusion.

"Tali'Zorah, the quarian aboard the first Normandy, she was at the scene when Mr. Taylor was murdered. She is already more than willing to be apart of the cause. If needed, I can vouch for her personally."

"Good, good. Her help will be most welcome." He mused. "I'm sure you still have plenty of work to get done."

"Yes, of course, but before I go," swiping up a datapad and peering at the information it held. "I'm sending back the team responsible for the work on Scythe-breaker. They've apparently made some wondrous progress, and need your approval for their next step."

Nathan's eyes lit up with glee.

"Yes, yes! By all means, do so! This is excellent!" in an overly giddy tone. "Please, please, don't let me keep you. You'll be hearing from me soon."

Without another word, the connection between the two of them was cut, leaving Nathan alone the conference room. All his work for the past few years was finally going to culminate into what he hoped would be a success. There were going to be stories told of him, stories about how he was behind the force that stopped the Reapers. Countless lives would be saved, all because of his work. Nathan stood propped on the edge of the table, allowing himself to simmer down. The news of the Scythe-breaker was huge, but his excitement had to be controlled to make sure everything else went smooth. The Reapers were coming; there was no doubt about it. Preparedness didn't exist anymore. How could it exist with a force as unknown as the Reapers? It didn't matter. What mattered was that he ensures the survival of _all _races. At the end of the day, he was driven by what everyone else in this galaxy was driven by. Something that ran deep within the blood of every race, regardless of how advanced they were. He was driven by the fear of death, and the glory of survival. It was as simple as that.

* * *

_**Boy, this was a pain to get ready. HSC crunch time is coming, and that means no writing, AT ALL. I have to make do with the brief moments on weekends, but it's all I have now.  
Please, leave a review, detailed if you're bothered, but a simple opinion will do too. They all help me grow as a writer, regardless. So go… click that large button down there… it's hard to miss. **_


	5. V

_**Miranda's search for Oriana begins at her last known location: Bekenstein. If her instincts are right, then there's no doubt that her former employees, Cerberus, are behind this. Despite her own wishes, this wasn't something she could do alone…**_

* * *

Miranda wished her mind ran as smoothly as the sky-car she was piloting. No matter how hard she tried, her head was just a mess of worry, preparation, and anxiety. She needed to find Oriana, and the quicker she did the better.

"There better be Cerberus agents there, Miranda. It's taking a lot of fuckin' energy not to destroy _you_ right now." Jack said, half-threateningly.

"Heheh. I like this female. She's got a quad." Grunt chuckled.

"Jack, I've told you time and time again. I resigned." Miranda said bluntly as she banked the skycar around a skyscraper.

"Doesn't mean I don't wanna hit you." Jack mumbled.

Oriana's apartment building was looming up ahead, shimmering with the same luminosity as every other towering building on Bekenstein. Her expected blank expression was easier to uphold in her present company, which was the only good thing she could take from John's absence; she could lie again. Around him, she'd find it hard to uphold her cold exterior, trading it for a semi-noticeable smile. The cold metal that touched her chest brought her the warm memories of his stern, battle-worn face, driving her even further to get her sister back to safety, and back to support John for his trial. Carefully, she piloted the car onto a landing pad just two floors above Oriana's foster family's apartment. She checked again for the Locust SMG strapped to her left thigh, before stepping out of the car, the lumbering form of Grunt flanking her, with Jack following close behind.

"Okay, keep on your toes. There could be anything here. Cerberus, mercs, anything." She briefed her small team.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get out of my way if it's Cerberus, I can't guarantee that I won't fuck you up… by accident, of course." Jack smirked.

Miranda cursed having Jack here, but with the mysterious jobs that most of her first-choices had received, it was the best that she could do. At least Grunt was more civilized than she expected, as much as she could expect civility from a krogan.

"Understood." Grunt responded as he flexed his neck, causing his juvenile scales to flicker.

Without another word, the unlikely trio stepped down the catwalk, and found an elevator. Its mechanical workings buzzed into life as she keyed the carriage to ascend. She grew increasingly anxious, with every second that passed hindering her from tracking down her sister. The carriage arrived with a ding, and the three of them stepped on. Methodically, she checked the straps on her armour, and flexed her limbs. Realistically, if Oriana was taken forcefully she would find no resistance, but being prepared for anything was how she played the book. Her fingers were hovering close to her gun's handle, and her muscles were loose, ready to unleash her own form of biotic hell on anyone in her way. The elevator slowed down, and it slid open, revealing nothing but a corridor leading to one, lone door. Its sensor light was green, showing that it was unlocked. There were no signs of forced entry, no laser-torch marks on the edges. If Miranda didn't know any better, she'd think nothing was out of the ordinary. Jack's fingers were constantly flexing, making cracking noises as they approached the door. It parted open for them, admitting them into a chillingly empty apartment. They fanned out, looking for signs of struggle, but found none. It was almost serene to witness an apartment as empty and clean as this.

"Shit. No Cerberus. Miranda you're g-" Jack began.

"Quiet, human. There are bodies over here," announced Grunt, causing Miranda to rush over.

Sure enough, there were two dead bodies sprawled in the kitchen space, their limbs spread

"Ori's parents… they killed them." Miranda said slowly. In honesty she was less surprised than she seemed.

To Miranda, they were just the people that took care of her sister physically, something that she was unable to do. Seeing them lifeless on the floor didn't spark up anything heartbreaking within her, only a building frustration that stemmed from being stonewalled.

"You said there was going to be Cerberus assholes that I could pummel! Now either you find me some, or I beat the shit out of you!" Jack threatened, completely this time.

"Can you just be quiet?" Miranda retaliated, flaring indigo. "Trust me, this is me being lenient, because I'd much rather _make_ you."

"Oh you wanna go, cheerleader? Lets go!" provoking her more, matching Miranda's wispy biotic energy.

Just as they were about to jump at each other, Grunt stopped them.

"Quiet, females!" turning his head as if he'd heard something. His eyes widened in fear. "Leave! NOW!"

His commanding voice left no room for dissent. They all ran for the door, unbeknownst as to what Grunt was compelling them to run from. The second they stepped out the door, their curiosities were answered with a swift, thundering blast knocking them forward. Miranda's face tingled as the wave of heat charged out after the initial shock-wave, lighting up the corridor with a searing orange lick of light. She hadn't even realised she'd been knocked to the ground, and came to only moments after. The debris was limited mostly to inside the apartment, with small chunks of fibreglass and fabric covering her armour. Shaking the ringing in her ears away, she lifted her head to see one of the couches lodging the door open, and the bodies of her team stirring from the blast.

"Uhhhh…" Jack murmured as she came to.

"Whoever did that's gonna pay." Grunt groaned.

"On your feet!" Miranda ordered. "We need to get out of here, there'll be a squad here any second now!"

"What squad?" Jack demanded as they broke through the emergency staircase beside the elevator.

"Cerberus! Who else!" she replied through gritted teeth.

"Where is the honour in running?" Grunt complained as they neared the top of the staircase.

"Who said we were running?" she hissed.

Miranda held a fist up, ushering them to stop. She edged her way towards he door, and broke into the lock's programming. With a few taps on her omni-tool, the door began to slide open to a fraction of its full length, leaving enough room for them to squeeze through. Before they did however, she took a peek out, and saw that the staircase came out near the edge of the rooftop. She gathered that their skycar, and the possible Cerberus troops, were behind them.

"There's going to be a full squad out on the roof, so we need to use the element of surprise over them." she explained in a hush.

"How the fuck do you know?" Jack scowled suspiciously.

"I headed an op similar to this. They lure the secondary target to a scene, and eliminate them with an explosive. Standard Cerberus OP states that cleanup crews are sent in afterwards."

"Lead the way, female. I will show them what happens when they try to kill a krogan!" beating his chest armour for emphasis.

"Not before I rip their guts out first!" Jack flared.

"Stand down! We have to get a good position first, and then the two of you are free to do what ever it is that you need to do. Are we clear?" she ordered them.

They acquiesced, and the three of them stepped carefully out onto the rooftop. Sure enough, around the corner, standing at the foot of the landing platform, were a cluster of Cerberus troopers. Shimmying behind an air duct, they moved unnoticed onto their flank.

"…moving onto the apartment." blared one of the troopers' intercom.

"Do we have kill confirmation?" said one of the troops.

"Shit. They'll know we're here soon. Grunt, get on the other side of the landing pad, and you better not shoot unless I bloody well tell you to." She commanded in a low tone, pulling out her Locust.

"Very well." He said, crouching low, and moving for the opposite end of the pad.

"All right men! There is no kill confirmation. I repeat; kill confirmation is negative. Alenko wants to make sure this one's dead."

_Alenko? Where have I heard that name before?_

"3-1 & 3-2, get to their sky-car, 3-3 & 3-4 cover the elevator. The rest of you, keep an eye out for her. Remember, she's got our training, so don't underestimate her," said the apparent squad leader.

Miranda put a finger to her mouth, signaling to Jack for silence. The squad was splitting up, but she didn't yet dare to make a move. Not until one of them ventured too close, and they always did. It only took one of them a few moments to come into range of her, and she sprung out of cover, shot him in the knee, and then biotically threw him and his heavy ivory armour over the edge of the building.

"Jack, Grunt, NOW!" she yelled at the top of her voice, as she fired a short burst into the next soldier.

"Way ahead of you, cheerleader!" Jack responded, sending an unstoppable wave of energy at a pair of troopers.

Miranda could hear Grunt's battle cry over the sound of the retaliating gunfire, and the ensuing yelps of the troopers as they met the force of an angered krogan.

"Troop 3 requesting backup! Target is not eliminated, and is currently engaging us!" the squad leader spat through his intercom, as he cowardly retreated to the second landing pad where a gun-ship was parked.

"Oh, no you don't!" Miranda scowled, kicking a trooper into the clutches of Jack's biotic field.

Her armour began to take glancing hits when the leader laid eyes on her rage-fuelled face. He scrambled up the catwalk, almost falling onto the landing pad. Miranda didn't bother with the stairs, levitating herself up and over his cowering figure. Several bullets got caught in her mass-effect field, but she paid them no mind. Before he got a chance to get into the cockpit of the gun-ship, Miranda bore down on him with all the force of her immense mass-increased body, cracking through his armour, and rendering his body into a pulp. Blood seeped through his plating, and his mouth let out a gurgle before he finally succumbed to the pain.

"Everyone to the car!" she yelled to Jack and Grunt. "We're leaving!"

* * *

"Commander John Shepard. You have been brought before the admiralty board to answer for your actions on Aratoht, and your eventual destruction of the Viper Nebula Mass Relay." orated Admiral Stewart, a middle aged woman, with hair as grey as the storm clouds that formed outside. "What do you have to say for yourself? If there is such a reason that can justify your killing of several hundred thousand souls." she said with disgust.

For a staged trial, John could definitely feel all the guilt and sorrow that a legitimate proceeding brought. Despite this, he had been rehearsing what he was going to say over and over in his head. Perfecting it as he was picked and probed over the past week by the RDC's top neuroscientists and biotechnicians. Regardless of the true situation surrounding his trial, he was still being watched by millions of citizens around the galaxy. What he said here would be seen and heard by the people that he trained, and fought for to protect. His reasons behind it weren't going to be elongated into a well thought out speech. No, he only needed a few words to explain it.

"I did was what was necessary, ma'am." standing erect before the admirals bench, stuck in his testimony.

"Well, what was necessary cost the entire Bahak system their lives! And for what? Time for the rest of the galaxy to defend themselves against the Reapers?" she burst out sceptically. "Commander Shepard, you need to understand that the Reapers are simply a hoax. They don't exist."

"Miriam, I believe that's enough. The board recognises your disdain against the rumours of the Reapers, but will not allow them to fuel your judgement at this hearing. Stand down." said Admiral Hackett.

She hesitated before answering, clearly fired up over the impending argument.

"…Very well, Steven."

"The board calls forward Staff Lieutenant Ashley…"

John trailed off. The rest of this trial was already planned out, and for the most part, his role in it was now over. All he had to do was act the part, and then the trial would be over for the day. It went on for a good two hours, with Ashley's testimony carefully worded and supportive of him, yet harsh of his execution of the mission, followed by several other faces he just barely recognised. Soldiers he had fought alongside with back before his resurrection at the greedy hands of Cerberus. All of this had been carefully discussed in several meetings, to ensure that the integrity of the mock trial wasn't questioned. It was all to appease the masses, and he couldn't help but grimace at how his life was being twisted into one large stage-play.

The trial concluded for the day, and his 'guard', led by a soldier named Lieutenant James Vega, met him outside the courtroom. The moment anyone looked at James, they could tell that he was a military man. His build was massive, stretching his Alliance dress uniform. Regulations would've made him trade the uniform for a larger size, but a week with the man told John that he was the kind of guy that liked to parade himself around.

"Hey Commander, we better get going, there's a nasty crowd forming outside." he greeted him in his slight Latino accent.

"All of this for a fake trial…" he sighed. "All right then, lead the way."

The halls of the Systems Alliance Court of Justice were easy to navigate through, if you were someone like John. Court Assistants, lawyers, judges, and admirals alike all moved aside for him, either out of blind respect, or out of blinded fear. The front doors loomed ahead, their clear glass panelling revealing the growing cityscape of Vancouver, its lights brightening up the city as if it were day. They seemed to defy the looming clouds overhead, their dark grey underbellies floating over the city. No matter where he was, how much training he had, nothing unsettled him as consistently as the presence of a looming rainstorm. He was right to feel unsettled, because when he stormed through the sliding doors, he saw what James warned him about. At the bottom of the stony white steps lay a sea of incoherently chanting citizens, holding up various signs and all-weather holo-displays. The crowd seemed to be separated into opposing protesting opinions, with signs exclaiming things like "Shepard's a slayer!" or "Batarians are people too!" being aggressively pushed into the air. On his right, signs proclaiming "The Reapers are coming!" and "Shepard is our saviour!" being proudly lofted high by his supporters. The soldiers guarding the corrals looked just about ready to combat the overflowing crowd. Shouts of dissent and praise grew louder as they laid eyes on him descending down the steps, surrounded by his military escort. Various projectiles started to rain down on him, thrown at him from the crowd of angry protestors.

"Damn Shepard. You really know how to work a crowd!" James exclaimed as he held his arm up against the debris. "Lucky half of these _pendejos _can't aim for shit!"

"Just get me out of here, Vega." He said as he dodged an incoming egg, feeling it splatter against the concrete under him. Instinctively, he looked around for the offender, but instead, he laid eyes on ghost from his past. Amongst the anti-Shepard crowd, standing tall, his hair slicked back, and his arms crossed was his former crew-mate. Kaidan Alenko.

"Kaidan?" he cried, a crack of thunder overwhelming his voice.

The ghost didn't seem to respond. Was it a ghost? In all his years in the marines, he'd never seen an unearthly appearance that wasn't explainable. This wasn't the battlefield though, and this couldn't be explained by the glimmer of someone's kinetic barrier. No, his appearance seemed too real, despite how impossible this all was. Every part of him was being pulled towards him, desperately wanting to apologise for abandoning him, but the image was gone before he knew it, disappearing into the crowd.

_It was nothing, just you trying to get used to the atmo. _

John continued to trudge through the rain towards the docks, stunned by what he had just seen. All those years ago, Kaidan had died along with the rest of the marines back on Virmire, where he painfully made the decision to abandon him in the nuke blast. It was as if the gods were making it their sole purpose to make him regret everything he'd done for the greater good. Real or fake, the ordeal was finally starting to take its toll, and he desperately wanted out. He just wished that Miranda were here to make this all the more bearable. He really did.

* * *

_**I'd love for some of you to leave a review, seriously. :D Just a tad detailed y'know, saying what you liked, what you thought could be improved, anything, really. The button is just like… right down there…**_


	6. VI

_**Separated from Miranda, Shepard has to endure the aftermath of his actions alone. While it seemed bearable to begin with, he's discovered that his actions have caused a wide split in the universal opinion. On top of that, one of his closest friends, Staff Lieutenant Ashley Williams, has given him a less than welcoming return…**_

* * *

_Good evening once again ladies and gentlemen, I'm Carl Parker, and this is the ANN Report. _

_It should be no news to you that Commander Shepard's trial is reaching its final stretch. But as this monumental proceeding reaches its end, responses from the public are becoming more and more polarized. _

_Just listen to the responses our field correspondent, Tricia Akuma has gathered. _

"…_This trial is almost useless! How do we know he killed the entire Bahak system? We know close to nothing about the nature of an exploding mass relay!"_

"_He should be locked up in the most inhumane s-thole this government can think of!"_

"_Folks need to understand that there are certain things that need to be done, regardless of the consequences. No one asked all of you to mourn for those four-eyed flap-faces."_

"_I haven't heard from my son. He was serving on a listening post in the Bahak system. I don't want to believe he's… gone. But I do know that whatever happened, tha-that Commander Shepard man is responsible for it!" _

_It's been speculated that the Commander has been taking the entire ordeal quite harshly, but these can only remain speculation until ANN Report can interview him personally. Although, comments to those known to be close to him reveal more and more detail into the nature of his disposition… _

_Thud. Thud. Thud thud. Thud. _

John pounded the punching bag relentlessly, each solid hit giving off a satisfying thump as his fists met their targets. He tried to focus on the sound of his punches, but the blaring sound of the news report kept worming its way into his conscience. Of course, the logical course of action would be turn it off, but he wanted to know what the public, the people he swore to protect, thought of this. His worst fears were made real. They hated him. How foolish was he to overlook this? Pushing that button had more ramifications than he thought. John obviously knew of the countless lives he'd be condemning, but he forgot about the ripple effect. Granted, this wasn't as insignificant as dropping a pebble into a still pond. It was more like a gigantic boulder being dropped into that pond, sending enormous waves of water splashing out in every direction imaginable.

It wasn't just the harsh criticism that got to him though. As unbelievable as it sounds, his ghosts were haunting him. How he wished that it was just an expression, but the inexplicable appearance of Kaidan last week seemed so real, that it transcended the meaning of the phrase. Needless to say, the sighting chilled him to the core and threw him into a bout of self-hatred. It happened after his first tribunal session, among the aggressive crowd outside the courthouse. For his sanity, he'd rather it be a vision, or a mirage than the actual person himself. It made sense that he would see a ghost of him now, after what he'd done to the Viper Nebula. After all, it wasn't much different to what he did to Kaidan and the marines holding the line back on Virmire.

His punches began to grow in strength, to the point where the scaffolding hoisting the heavy bag teetered dangerously upon its base. He dedicated every ounce of energy towards the devastating punches, focusing solely on packing his punches with the anger and frustration he'd kept inside. A soldier like him found peace in this sort of violence, providing him with a personal and remedial way to soothe his mind. Alas, his burdens were inescapable, still plaguing him. It seemed like he'd never forget Virmire, or the condemnation of an entire system, or the heckling crowd outside of the Court of Justice. He wanted to forget them so badly that his frustration grew to the point of explosion, causing him to lash out recklessly and mercilessly at the heavy bag. The punches became deathblows, and before he knew it, the metal scaffolding toppled into the wall, leaving a flaking indent. John was puffed out by then, breathing deeply and rhythmically. His knuckles throbbed and his head was swimming. His mind was cast in a torrential rainstorm of his own horrific thoughts, unable to see past the deeds that fell around him like splattering drops of rain. In an attempt to move from the subject, he cast his mind on a much more enlightening topic.

Idly, he stood in front of the toppled heavy bag, and tried to imagine the soothing sensation of Miranda massaging his aching muscles with her biotics. Many a time had she performed the procedure, utilising her unique control over her abilities to deeply soothe his stretched and torn muscles. It had been a hard time for John, coping with her absence; a month or so had turned into what felt like eons. Gone were the burdens of his past, replaced by a simple, bittersweet longing. A longing to see her, that filled his entire being until he was consumed by the emotion. Questions came to mind over her safety. Was she safe? Has she found Oriana yet? Is she on her way here? They all sounded so foreign to him, things that didn't dare enter his mind, because to have them there denoted weakness. That didn't stop him however, but a voice at his door did.

"Commander," Ashley announced, her tone military and professional. "Dr. Janus is calling a meeting. You need to be at base in ten." She paused and looked over at his desk at the RDA commissioned folder that lay there, seemingly untouched. "You were supposed to look over these!" pacing over to the desk angrily as he returned the heavy bag to its normal levelling. "If you're going to be part of the RDA at least know its history!" she chastised him as he went back to whaling on the bag.

"Founded in 2183, by turian ambassador Julius Antonius." He recited through thumping punches. "Several months after we saved the council, a second revenue stream was introduced through private Council accounts," still punching away. "Later on in the same year, outposts are set up in asari, turian, and human controlled space." his punches became less intense. "Also the year… when the _Normandy SR-1 _was destroyed and I was announced KIA." He grimaced as the punches came to a stand still. Brooding in the thoughts of his own death, he stood silently for several moments. He was grateful for the second chance, but the moments leading to his death were never ever going to leave him. All he could think about was his suit de-pressurising… and he air being ripped violently out of his lungs agonisingly collapsing them like deflated balloons. He remembered his fingers clutching fruitlessly and desperately at his air supply… then… nothing. Realising where he was, he shook himself out of it. "Reproduction of the counter-indoctrination nanites from plans in the Primary database, development of the Thannix cannon…" he mumbled.

Ashley stood stock still as he grimly unwrapped the gauze around his knuckles and palms. "I read the files Ashley," he said tersely.

The words that were ready to leave her mouth in a tirade of criticism had suddenly disappeared. It wasn't like Ashley to act so impulsively against someone like John, but then again, lately she hadn't been feeling like herself.

"Give me a few minutes," pacing into his bath suite, leaving Ashley to the mess of thoughts that was surfacing yet again.

After her long-awaited outburst, the air between them became filled with palpable tension. But it also left her with a guilty conscience. Why she was so infuriated with him, she didn't know. It couldn't be boiled down into something simple, but she knew it started with his death. Everyone knew that his death hit her hard, but they all assumed it was simply because he was her commander, someone she looked up to, which was enough to leave anyone in distraught. It was true, she did look up to him, but it was more than that. There were so many reasons why; like not being able to repay him for saving her on Eden Prime, or thanking him for the lessons she's learnt, or most of all, the attention he gave her the entire time they'd been on the Normandy. To see him selflessly sacrifice himself with the ship tore her into so many pieces, it took her a couple of months away from the service to piece herself back together again. It was then that she realised how truly weak she was. Growing up in a military family, she was naturally disciplined and resilient. Not to mention that she was the eldest of her three sisters, which gave her an innate ability to lead. But John's death disproved all of that. For months she mourned, casting herself into a prolonged pang of despair that was riddled with confusion and sadness. She constantly questioned herself, unable to find an answer to why she had been so affected by him. Her sister thought it was her feelings for him, but the idea of Ashley being romantically caught up over her commanding officer was insane. That wasn't just against regulation; it was against her morals.

As time progressed, she learned to live with the pain, allowing herself to get back into the service, and getting on with her life. There was even a time after she'd joined with the RDA that she'd come to accept that he was gone. Only to be completely shattered when she heard of his reappearance. She could remember the relief she felt over John's reappearance, hastily followed by the feeling of betrayal when she discovered him to be with Cerberus. It was maddening, and it wasn't until Horizon that she was able to make a resolute stand on how she felt about it. He had changed so much, distorted with pulsating orange scars and equally terrifying eyes. Everything he said had such a blatant and unavoidable air of deception, that she couldn't believe a thing that came from him. That was then. To be around him again now, and to trust him wholly was going to prove more than difficult, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to try.

"You ready to go Williams?" he asked as he wiped a stark white towel over his short stubble.

To his credit, the man in front of her was a much different man than who she saw on Horizon. His scarring had died down, and the ghostly orange light in his eyes had vanished. Still, she felt betrayed by him, and like the scars, that was going to take while to disappear. Regardless, she was a soldier, and soldiers didn't let their emotions get to them.

"Yeah," she said plainly. "Let's go."

* * *

"Realistically, Project Scythebreaker won't roll out to everyone in time, _if_ our projections are correct," the salarian at the front of the room hurriedly said, "however, the alternative in this situation would be much less favourable."

_We've got three months till the Reapers hit Sol. Outfitting one Dreadnaught-class ship with a standard combat cache of Scythebreaker rounds takes a week, not including the production time. Shit, how are we going to do it all? _Nathan thought to himself grimly.

"And how many production sites do we have exactly?" he asked.

"A significant number of your factories orbiting Jupiter are on the list. I believe the turians have also pledged a few of their weapons facilities, most notably Datriux." The salarian replied as he read off of a datapad. "The asari have also devoted all of their orbital facilities on Tevura, as well as a small team of engineers to oversee the installations and retrofits."

"If our projections are correct, and they mostly are," one of the asari team members cut-in, "then-"

"I've done the math Jissana, at most, forty to forty-five per cent of our allied naval forces will be combat ready." Nathan remarked. "I think it's clear to say, that it's not bloody enough!" he burst, startling most of the board.

"Director, it's the best we've got," Nealia added.

"We're not even sure how effective the rounds will be! All of this is built upon the scarce data we compiled from _Sovereign_'s obliterated remains!" he continued to exclaim, shooting forward in his chair.

"What else could we do, Director? Everyone worked their teeth off for this, countless nights running simulation after simulation, perfecting the targeting programming, and coming up with the most viable amount of eezo to implant the rounds with!" said the salarian in rising frustration.

Stunned by this, Nathan slowly sank back into his seat, realising just how impossible it was to be fully prepared against the threat.

"I apologise," he said genuinely. "How far along is the prototype?"

"It's beginning tomorrow, in the Voyager cluster," the salarian replied.

"Director, with all the attacks on our outposts, is it possible that we get a large contingent to watch over the production?" the asari requested.

"Haven't you assigned a combat team to it yet?" he asked.

"No sir."

"Good, that'll give-" the door behind him hissed aside. "Ah, John! Right on time." He said as John and Ashley walked through the door behind him.

It was an odd scene for a man like John to walk into. Surrounding the table were several higher ups within branches of different governments, all coming together to paint the picture of what could've been the most diverse gathering this side of the galaxy. A holographic chart was being projected out of the table's centre receptacle, showing data that made no sense to John.

"Just in time for what?" he enquired.

"Your new combat assignment." He said with a smile. "It's clear that we're getting no where with that Prothean database in your head, so we might as well give you something else to do."

"Go on." John said, motioning him to continue.

"A project that we've been working on has finally reached completion, and with that, a prototype will be developed tomorrow."

"So you want me to go and make sure Cerberus don't mess things up," he stated. He was glad that he was finally able to shake the grounding that was driving him insane.

"Yes, well, you're quite aware of how much of a thorn in our side they've been."

An uncomfortable sensation rose within him at the memory of just how much of a thorn they've been. Despite his lack of relationship with him, the news of Jacob's death was still an unwelcome piece of news.

"Understood. When do I leave?"

"Not just you, Williams and Vega will be coming along, as well as a small detachment of Alliance troops." He added.

Neither John nor Ashley knew how to feel about this. Granted, it was great to finally be back on the line again, even if it was a simple overwatch mission. However, the two of them still had issues that needed to be worked out. Nathan looked upon their expressions with curiosity, and waited a few moments before opening his mouth.

"Do you have any questions… or are you two just going to stand there?"

"None, director." Ashley quickly replied.

"Good! Go and get ready. Remember to head by the armoury before you leave. John, I believe Ashley can help you find it. Report to Dock 13G at 1600. I know you'd prefer to take the _Normandy_ out on this mission John, but its retrofits are still underway." He said with a pleased smile. "You're going have to be extremely cautious, considering your fake trial is still ongoing. We've already formulated several alibis that will "excuse" you from court presence, just as long as you keep your head down. Understood?"

He nodded his acknowledgement, smiling internally at the upgrades his ship was receiving, but slightly indifferent towards the excuses Nathan was going to formulate to exempt him from court.

"You two are dismissed," gesturing towards the door. "Oh, Nealia, send out a mobilise notice to the 212th Battalion, and get me…"

The sound of his voice was cut off as the door behind them shut tight.

"Okay this needs to stop," she said demandingly, grasping his arm and pulling him back.

"I agree," he said as he turned to face her completely.

An air of silence passed between them yet again. They had fought together in many conflicts, yet this petty disagreement between them seemed harder to overcome than a complete horde of batarians.

"You're angry about me working with Cerberus, and you're clearly finding hard to trust me," he began.

She stood there, arms crossed, silently ushering him to continue.

"I don't think there's much I can do to regain your trust…"

"But I'm going to need to put it aside if we're going to be on the line," filling out the rest of his sentiment. "You're right. I was angry about you working with them, infuriated even. I just wanted to know why, and despite all you've said, I still refuse to believe that someone like you would work for a group like Cerberus."

"It wasn't for, it was _with_!" correcting her for the hundredth time. "You know what? It doesn't matter anymore. We've got an assignment, Williams. So follow through with putting it behind you. I can't afford you on the mission expecting a knife in the back from me," he ordered her.

John turned his back, clearly out of things to say, but mostly to deter her from speaking back.

"Aye aye," she grunted bitterly as she followed him out.

* * *

Rhiannon hated cramped spaces. It was the one thing that peeved her about this job. The deceiving, the seducing, the gun-fights, they were the best parts about being an intelligence agent, but unfortunately, hiding out in air-vents was part of that too. The worst part of it was that she couldn't get comfortable without alerting her mark, Kai Leng who was right under her. She had navigated her way up a dangerously rocky cliff side to get into the facility, and she wasn't going to let that go to waste because she would feel better if her arm wasn't under her chest. No way was she going to do that, not with the high risk intel she was hoping to gather. Every damn matriarch in Asari Intelligence would have her head if she screwed this up. Right now, she was fighting the urge to scratch a persistent itch on her knee, when a second figure entered the room.

"Leng," the second figure huskily said. "Where's the girl?"

"On her way," Kai tersely replied.

"Any word from the Illusive Man yet?" asked the second figure.

Having no visual on them made it hard to grasp the entire situation, but she wouldn't be an intelligence agent if she didn't know that a short silence meant "no".

"On our own again. Sometimes it feels like we're the ones in charge," he complained. "It hasn't been the same since he started obsessing over the Reaper tech."

"Watch it. He's been doing that since before you and me, Alenko," his tone clearly expressing contempt at Alenko's remark.

"I forget how much you adore him Kai," he shot back.

"Why wouldn't I? The man has done more for this cause than you have. Which, given your work with the Alliance, isn't much…"

"Hey, you watch it! Just because I agreed to help Cerberus after you saved me, doesn't mean I share the same hatred for the Alliance that you do." The air of animosity was growing thicker and thicker by the second.

"That doesn't matter anymore," said Kai dismissively. "But if we are on the topic of your past…"

There was the distinctive clink and beep of a holo-projector booting up.

_Dammit! I need to see that information! _

There was silence, then the clack of pacing boots. She could sense the atmosphere in the room turn to icicles. Whatever they were looking at, it was valuble, and she needed to get her hands on it.

"You're sure about this?" Alenko asked.

"I'm always sure.' Leng said plainly.

"Of course you are," he said silently.

"When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as possible. He's going to pay for what they did to me. Him and Williams both." The words that left his mouth were filled with so much contempt; she could almost feel them burn into her ears.

The two of them stepped out of the room after they turned the projector off. Rhiannon desperately wanted to go down and grab the information, but she needed to play it safe. A few more seconds, _then_ she'd creep in. Silently, she grabbed a suction plate from her belt, and positioned it on the ceiling board in front of her. The omni-blade made quick work of the material, and before she knew it, she was levitating silently down onto the office.

"I thought you were never going to come down," rasped an all-too-familiar voice. "Turn on your omni-tool's microphone, and turn around slowly."

After a few short taps, her omni-tool began to record every single sound that it could pick up. When she turned around, she was met with the most horrific face she'd ever seen. It was horribly disfigured and riddled with metallic implants. His eyes didn't match; one of them was scarred, whilst the other one was artificial and glowing.

"Who do you work for? Did Shepard send you?" he demanded.

"Do I look like I work for the Alliance?" she exclaimed in spite of the gun being pressed into her forehead. She was surprised she was able to say anything at all. Her eyes were completely transfixed on his face, abhorred by the shining metal plates and robotic eyes.

"Haven't you seen an android before, asari?" he hissed. "Take it in. You take this in and understand who did this to me," he said menacingly. "Commander John Shepard. The so-called 'Hero of the Citadel.' Do you see this?" gesturing at the whirring metal plates where his cheekbones used to be. "This is what happens when your commander decides to leave you behind because he can't fathom life without his fucking girlfriend. He chose Williams over me, and this is what I get for it," he hissed. "I don't care how this gets to him, but you make sure Shepard knows I'm coming for him. And I won't stop until he and Ashley are a withered pile of flesh."

"You're letting me go?" she asked, with a quiver of hope in her throat.

"Why would I get you to record this then?" and without another word, he pulled the trigger.

* * *

_**Ooft. I forgot how tiring writing with a deadline could be. :L But hey, PLEASE leave a review, it helps immensely as I grow as a writer. :)**_


	7. VII

_**Miranda has been travelling non-stop over the past few months, straying away from John, and refusing to rest until her sister was found. Failure wasn't option for her. It never was. She'll have to learn how to fall with grace though, because there'll always be a first for everything, no matter how perfect you are…**_

* * *

Her own strands of frayed raven-black hair fell down her face, hanging lifelessly like loose thread off the cuff of a sleeve. Her shoulders ached with pain, but the restraints around her wrists kept her arms in the one uncomfortable position, refusing to allow her comfort. The blood on her hands had begun to dry, caking her knuckles in a sticky red sheath, and irritating her to no end. Miranda didn't know how long ago she gave up on escaping, or how long ago she'd been captured. All she knew was that she was going to rip apart every single Cerberus trooper in this base, and she wouldn't stop until they were screaming for death's sweet escape. They spilled the blood of her sister, and she wouldn't leave until every drop of her blood spilt gets paid back a hundred fold.

Instinctively, she'd been keeping count of every hulking ivory chunk of armour that walked in and out of the dank, dark room. Not counting the likely large contingent they'd have guarding Grunt, there were six guards permanently standing guard. Three of them stood permanent guard over Jack's unconscious body, not that they would be able to do anything should the hard-as-nails outlaw miraculously come out of her chemically induced sleep. Three more stood in a circle around Miranda, facing outwards with their backs turned on her kneeling, worn body.

There was a gall rising in her throat at her own recklessness. Despite the countless amount of times she tweaked the mission, scrolled through the blueprints, she somehow managed to fail. The experience of it was still sinking in, but she dared not let it sink any further. It was impossible for her to fail, not with the pride she put in smoothing out every last detail in any mission that was laid in her lap. Yet, here she was, bruised, broken and worst of all, beaten.

Where did it go wrong?

* * *

A swift hand gesture motioned for silence among the three of them. Nothing but the sound of the air whooshing around their movement could be heard. Over the two months or so that they'd been working together, Grunt, Jack, and Miranda had finally started working like a proper team. They hardly had to say a word in combat for their intentions to be known. Firefights, whenever they came up, were always put down quickly and efficiently. Jack had familiarised herself with almost every weapon class possible, and honed her terribly powerful biotics to make her an invaluable fighter. She was quite literally, a Jack-of-all-trades. Grunt, being the immense krogan that he is, always proved to be the least discreet of the trio, but more-or-less has begun to use that to the team's advantage, providing brilliant diversions in situations where they're sorely needed. Combined with Miranda's training and years of experience, the three of them trekked across nearly every major Council system, ripping apart any opposition they met, all in search of Oriana.

As they stacked up against the door, Miranda activated her omni-tool's scanner. She waited a beat and found that the office was devoid of life, traps, or bugs, something that piqued her curiosity beyond expression.

"Empty," she whispered.

"One way to find out for sure," Jack said, pacing towards the door and holstering her shotgun. A faint indigo flare erupted around her balled fists as she keyed the door's sensor.

There was a short pause before she walked in the office. The moment she did, both Miranda and Grunt followed close behind with their weapons raised.

"They beat us here," Miranda grimaced.

A total of four dead bodies were sprawled out, hanging onto the edge of the table or unceremoniously laid across the floor. Blood was caked around the expertly placed bullet holes in their skulls, with a fair amount drying on the ground. The file cabinets and server stacks were ransacked, or destroyed.

"They're getting better," Grunt mentioned as he examined their wounds.

"This firm was our last lead," she said gravely. "Our last bloody lead, and they all have bullets in their heads!"

She suppressed the desire to kick the ground in frustration, instead pacing around the room with her head hung low and her hands on her hips. Two and a half months of jumping system to system had culminated to this; a crippling dead-end.

"Lawson," Jack spoke up. She'd finally outgrown calling her 'cheerleader', a welcome improvement. She was crouching near one of the bodies, motioning her over with a nod of her head. "They left a datapad."

Laid carefully next to the blood-splatter and viscera, was a surprisingly clean datapad. Had it belonged to the victims, it would've at least had a small splatter of brain matter, but it was completely clean. Someone left this behind, and it wasn't accidental.

The moment Miranda took up the data-pad its glass face flared with the Cerberus insignia. A few seconds later, a recording started to play, of a face that was almost long lost to Miranda.

_"-kzzt-Miranda," _hissed Kai Leng. _"It's been too long." _His face held a smug smirk, distorting the contours of his face. _"I know you're worried about your sister, and why shouldn't you be? But after all this time, after all of the dead ends, you're still chasing after her." _He paused shortly, mulling over the next few words. His expression held nothing for Miranda, nothing but another face to add to her list. Then, in a sudden scene change, a corpse came into view. _"Oriana Lawson's dead, Miranda. You're searching for a ghost." _

The recording cut there, leaving the datapad frozen on a pale, sickly body that Miranda refused to identify. Her mind was pushing reality into her hands, but she didn't want to accept it. Neither Grunt, nor Jack knew what to do. They hadn't seen Miranda in such a revealing light. She had never faltered in their presence, but here, she was bare. Her sister announced dead, and all her efforts were made redundant. All in one fell swoop. In spite of everything, her composure didn't fall, but both Jack and Grunt knew it was the only thing about her being held together.

"Grunt, Jack, sweep the office again. I want every file you can pull from their servers and files. They were holding Oriana's location here. I know they were," Miranda said firmly, unfazed by the news. She was already pacing towards the door when Grunt spoke up.

"Battlemaster. Why are we chasing after her still? We are not varren chasing after a tossed rock," Grunt said solidly.

"We're not going after her, Grunt," she said darkly. "We're going after them."

* * *

Pharos' thin atmosphere was cold and uninviting to Miranda, and even with her suits' thermal regulators functioning properly, she still felt a chill run through her spine. It had been a hard few weeks, filled with mourning and despair. The thought of Kai Leng's demise however, made her determined to push through the pain, and bestow upon him the pain she felt a hundred times over.

A phantom imprint on one of the servers led Miranda here, a small mining planet off the hospitable zone in the Athens system. Of course, it had been bounced off countless relays, so much so that it took several days to whittle it down to this location, but she got here in the end.

Athens' bright light was fast disappearing, creeping deeper and deeper into the planet's horizon. From where she stood, she could make out very little of what spanned ahead of her. Wisps of grey-green dust were being whipped up by the winds that swept through the barren land. A small APC, no doubt heading for the nearby Cerberus base, trudged over the numerous dunes, and then disappeared behind a rocky cliff-face. There was a hidden beauty among this craggy expanse, but she wasn't appreciative enough to see it. John would've seen it though. He always saw something to be in awe at. It kept him sane he said, kept him level and calm among the madness that constituted his life. Almost as if they had a mind of their own, her fingers had begun to linger over the chain that clung at her neck. Passively, she pulled the chain from under her armour, and ran her thumb over the metallic lettering.

_132-67A-788M_

_SHEPARD, J._

_ALLIANCE NAVY._

Flipping it over in her fingers, she saw a crude inscription that depicted the _Normandy_ SR-2 in blue shift. A small curiosity always made its way into her mind whenever she laid her eye on it, wondering if there was a story behind the inscription that he hadn't told her. No one would hear her say it, but she longed for him. This was the first time in the last week or so she'd let her mind go there, to the thought of John and the ineffable elation she felt in his presence. Her mind had been too occupied with tonight, combing through the details vigorously for even the slightest error that would cost them failure. She allowed for absolutely no margin of error. Nothing would go wrong, even if it was just the slightest mistake, she wouldn't allow it, especially not after what they had done. Cerberus had treated her like their prized queen, a figure to be feared and valued. They knew exactly what she was capable of should she need to be put into action. Yet, they still crossed her, and in the worst way possible.

"Miranda," Jack buzzed in through her earpiece. "I'm in place."

"Did you deploy the contingencies?" she asked, pacing back towards the rocky hole that they left their equipment in.

"I had to hold myself back along the way, I coulda killed like three troopers," her smirk could almost be heard through the transmission. "But I got it in the west recycling duct. It's ready to fuck these Cerberus clowns in the ass when we need it to."

"Good. Rendezvous at RZ-Alpha." She snapped twice to get Grunt's attention. "We're going."

"Lawson, wait," Jack added.

"What?" She replied tersely.

"I heard some chatter… about some mobilisation."

"Get to the damn point." She was gearing up, making final checks on her armour.

"They're gathering a strike force to move on some factory in the Columbia system of the Voyager cluster," she reported.

"Nothing changes, we're still going to-"

"They mentioned Shepard," she said, cutting in.

"Sorry, repeat that? Did you say Shepard?" Complete disbelief filled her throat. There was no way.

"Yeah, and I'm damn sure of it too. Got mixed in with a mention of a RDA as well. Whatever the hell that is…"

"Impossible. Shepard's facing trial back on Earth. The possibility of him being anywhere but Earth is zero."

"The entire base is mobilising, Lawson, you know it. I counted three APCs come through the gates in the last half-hour. You know more than I do what a Cerberus base looks like when it's about to make a move."

Her logic was sound, but she'd been tracking Shepard's trial for its duration, and it was about to come to a close. He had to be on Earth for that.

"Mission parameters are still the same," she said after internally debating the possibilities. "We go in there, and blow this base to kingdom come. No more damn questions."

* * *

_"Unit 4-1, we've got static in your vicinity. It's not enough to cause interference, but recommend you verify all clear, over." _

The trooper put a finger to key the voice piece in his helmet, scanning around for a minor shimmer of a cloak.

"Base, nothing here. Could you narrow down the area in question, over?"

"_Unit 4-1, it should be to your two o'clock."_

"Roger that," he replied.

Miranda's heart pounded so hard that it threatened to burst out of her chest. She was not one foot away from the trooper, crouched behind a stack of crates. The unforeseen issue with their scanners was a welcome aid, but she would continue on as if Cerberus' equipment was still working to perfection. The mission plan was tailored to combat the full brunt of their security arsenal, any less and it allowed for failure.

Moving cautiously, she approached her first checkpoint; the southwest entrance. Despite the brand new Drell designed tactical cloak she was using, her eyes darted back and forth, acting as if she stuck out like a light bulb.

"I'm in position," she whispered over the comm. "Jack, Grunt, sitrep, now."

"I am ready for battle. These Cerberus forces will soon know what true krogan strength is like."

"Miranda, I had to use approach B to bypass the shitload of troops in the eastern quadrant, but I'm in position," she reported. "Told you they were mobilising," Jack said smugly.

"Okay, Grunt, move in four minutes and don't get pinned by the extra amount of troopers. Jack, comb through the base, and set the charges. Don't let anything stop you. Remember; this isn't like breaking into a vendor on Omega. Play it safe. I'm going dark, good luck." She clicked off the comms, maintaining radio silence on her end.

She took a deep sigh, as deep as her rebreather would allow her, steeling herself for whatever she would face on the inside. Motivation burned deep within her chest, and it was fuelled by the wrong she so desperately needed to right. Something that could be paid only in blood shed for the blood that was spilt.

Firing up her omni-tool, she started a bypass program. In reality, it only took a few moments, but time passed slowly in high-risk situations like these. Her hearing was sensitive, ready to pick up even the slightest hint of a boot fall, but all she could hear was the rhythmic thump of her heart, pulsing faster and faster as the time ticked away. A sudden buzz rolled through her arm from her omni-tool. The program had finished, and an alert was subtly flashing on her visor, ready to open the door at her command. Cautiously, she took two steps forward, with her glowing omni-tool extended in a scanning motion. Nothing pinged back, except for the trooper she left behind that was just now disappearing off her radar. Now was an opportune chance as any for her to slip inside. Any longer and she'd risk getting caught opening the door by a passing patrol.

It was odd, stepping into the base. She could only feel a sense of disgust as the familiar interior design greeted her. The cold, sterile walls that shone with a metallic sheen reminded her bitterly of the first moment she set foot in a Cerberus base. It seemed an age since then, coming in as a terrified teenage girl, running from her father. Now, almost an age later, she was storming the castle, seeking revenge for the sister that was ripped from her life.

_"Alert: two life-forms, bearing on your 2 o'clock." _The automated voice in her ear rang with a proximity warning. She pressed herself flat against a wall as a door shot open, and two ivory clad troopers walked out, one fiddling with a datapad.

"We're finally hitting the RDA, can you believe that?" the other trooper said.

"Yeah. The Illusive man finally got his head right. Word is he's been going insane or something." Her hand instinctively flew over her omni-tool's interface, tapping a few keys, grabbing information off of the datapad in the trooper's hands.

"Doesn't matter, the Three Heads are going to be leading Cerberus soon anyway. The Illusive man's time has come and gone."

"Three Heads? It's still two until O gets out of surgery."

"Surgery? She's fucking terrifying already…" His voice began to trail off as they turned at the junction down the hall.

An annotation popped up beside the tiny blip that marked her location on her visor.

CERBERUS ARMORY

LIFE-SIGNS: 0

SECURITY SYSTEM: XL-450 w/ BIOMETRIC SCANNER.

A simple enough system, the XL-450 was stock standard in all Cerberus bases. It was comprised of four synced cameras, with an alternate circuit that could activate when the system overloaded. It was firewalled, running a cyclic code that made it near impossible to hack on the field. Near impossible if you were a C-class hacker, that was. Miranda's time on the _Normandy _brought her close to two highly capable hackers, both of whom gave her a few pointers for field hacking.

"Thank you, Tali," she whispered to herself as she rolled up the programming codes.

Her mission clock read 2:28, only a minute and a half until Grunt would start his attack. She needed to sabotage the armoury and get back out before four minutes were up. The biometric scanners, once inside, were easy enough to get around. They only picked up unrecognised life signatures, and if there weren't any signatures to pick up to begin with, then it was as silent as a mouse. Her cloak did that for her, masking all of her vital signs and heat signatures. The rolling decryption program was almost done, when a figure crossed the corner of her eye. Instantly, her teeth clenched, and a scowl snapped across her face.

Kai Leng.

She had prepared for such a situation as this. The mission just had to be accelerated and adjusted. Scrapping the decryption, she unleashed a dormant worm into the security system, set to wipe out the entire mainframe, and lock all doors. Tagging him with a marker, she broke into a silent run, trailing after him.

"Jack," she hissed over the comm. "Jack, come in. What's your status?"

Silence.

"I repeat, Jack, what's your status?"

The faint hum of static came through. Her instincts blared. Was she compromised? She can't have been. This was all planned to perfection.

"Jack! Parameter shift Beta! I repeat: Parameter shift Beta!"

There was no response, but she couldn't waste time on her now.

"Grunt, come in," she said through gritted teeth as she trailed Kai Leng around a corner.

"What is it?" he grunted back.

"Start the attack. Parameter shift Beta." Her command was swift and clear.

"They will all fall underneath my rage!" he blared.

"Execute Code-34," sending the activation string to the dormant worm.

Everything fell in the space of two seconds. For a moment, the alarms raged, then dying under the digital onslaught of her worm. Every door she passed locked, with red interfaces appearing left, right, and centre. By now, she'd imagine a handful of troopers were laying down fire on Grunt's position, and a whole lot more one their way to secure the situation.

The blip on her visor moved with her progress, showing that Kai Leng had turned onto the main hallway that ran the entire width of the base. She rounded the corner, and laid eyes on her mark.

He walked with a deadly grace, silent in its approach. Many a target had been caught unaware by his unmatchable stealth. His back was turned, and she could see the hilt of his hallmark sword jutting upwards out of its sheath. With deadly speed, and a fury that matched the spirit of a thousand wronged men, she ran at him, biotics flared, and omni-blade extended. Dark energies floated around in her palm, culminating into a pulsing mass. She extended her arm, throwing the field forward, trapping him in a crushing prison. With a sweep of her arm, she spun the field around, turning him at her whim. They locked eyes for the briefest of seconds, but by then it had been too late. Her fist was dug deep into his chest, soaked in the blood that was dripping slowly out of his fresh wound. Her mouth lay agape as the body fell to the floor. It wasn't Kai Leng. The man that was lying dead in front of her was barely known to her. It was a trap.

"Grunt, Jack, get out of here, now! Jack, give me the destruct codes, AND the contingencies, report back to RZ-"

Her body was thrown back, stopped by some unforeseen force. When she got up, she saw the root of her problem. A glistening blue force field stood in her way, wrapping around her like a choking blanket. She fired up her biotics, ready to blast it with an overload of eezo.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a disembodied voice. "Unless you want several thousand molecules of unstable eezo pulsing through your body, then by all means."

"Who are you?" she yelled threateningly.

"Roll the body over," the voice commanded her.

"What?"

"Just do it, we can both get on it if you just follow what I say."

Words couldn't express the uncontrollable rage that was stirring turbulently inside her now. Several deep breaths did nothing to calm it down, but she knew that expressing her sudden choler would do nothing either. Nothing but get her killed.

Reluctantly, she walked over to the innocent man's body, rolling it over onto its back. A small light blinked, and instantly, a hologram popped up into the air. Shaded in a deeply unsettling purple, was a man. No. There was too much metal for this to be a 'man'. A great percentage of his body was artificial, and his face whirred and clinked as it put on a sick ghost of a smile.

"Ah finally. I meet the famous Miranda Lawson in person."

"You call this in person?" she jeered at him. "You're hiding behind a damn hologram."

"That's fine," the hologram spoke.

"I've got nothing to hide," said a voice at the end of the hall.

With arms out-stretched, the man in the hologram approached the humming blue field.

"I must admit… your work is impressive. Reminds me of a quarian I once knew… She loved tech. Fell head over heels for John when he brought her on-board and let her fiddle with the ship's systems."

"John?" she mused. Everything he said resonated within her, unnerving her with surprising efficiency. Pieces clicked together, and she finally had a whole picture. "Kaidan Alenko."

"The very same." His voice was seductively husky, intertwined with the sickly whirring of his implanted jawline. His head twitched, and his one good arm went to his ear, no doubt it was an incoming transmission. "Good. Good, send the beast straight to the cage." His eyes then flew straight over her shoulder.

"We got her," said a voice that made her lip curl in derision.

"I'LL KILL YOU, LENG!" she yelled as she turned to face him.

Kai Leng, the _real_ Kai Leng, stood over a hunched, unanimated body. From the extensive tattoos, and slight shimmer of short hair, she knew it was Jack. He said nothing in return to her infuriated cry. All he did was smirk darkly at her misfortune.

"Restrain her and bring her to the docking bay. The Illusive Man is going to very pleased."

The field dropped at Kaidan's command, and three troopers approached her carefully.

"Don't try anything," Kaidan warned her sternly.

She was defeated, unable to fight. The only person that could save her now was halfway across the galaxy, or across the other half of the galaxy. She didn't even know where the hell John really was. The hope was still there though, shimmering lightly, untarnished by her capture.

* * *

Her hands flexed, cracking her knuckles and flaking the dried blood off her knuckles. Nothing could be done about the restraints that were gnawing into her wrist like a dog, but she'd be damned before she let the blood of an innocent man stain her hands any longer.

"Sorry command, repeat last?" one of the troopers said into his voice-piece. Miranda's ears perked up, but all she could hear was the indecipherable crackling of a reply.

"Looks like you're staying here for a little bit longer, Lawson. We've got a stone-storm coming down."

"Stone-storm? Shit," one of the other troopers said, his voice crackled by his helmet microphone. "We lost a bird coming back to base in one of those."

For them, it was an inconvenience, for her it meant more time for an escape. Although, considering her dire predicament, her options were severely limited. Thoughts of Kai Leng still ran through her mind, messing with her mind like a hurricane passing through a town. How could they not? Her sister, the only family she had ever cared about was murdered, and it was all because of him. The plans of escape were now scrapped, because every thought had become a death wish. Every beat of her heart was hollowed by his careless act, and every muscle in her body wanted to make him pay for it.

Footsteps clacked towards her. They were light, and just barely audible.

"I thought you were better than this, Lawson."

Peering up through her frayed strands of hair, she could see Kai Leng's expressionless façade looking down at her, judging her silently behind the ghostly white lights that served as his eyes. She wasn't going to let any emotion seep through, nothing he could exploit and twist against her.

"Any _decent _operative would've seen this was a set-up," pacing around the ring of guards that stood watch over her. While he was boring his eyes into her skull, lecturing her on her clear mistakes, her eyes were locked onto the ground, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Did you even confirm your sister's death?" he said as he came to stop, just to tower over her, and exert his apparent superiority. "Or did you just assume the worst and let your feelings get a hold of you?"

A scowl begged to show on her lips, and she pursed them tight to deny them the chance to show it. All she could do was bear the brunt of his provoking tirade, and not give him the satisfaction of seeing her break that he so desperately craved.

"I'm disappointed if anything, Lawson. The Illusive Man spoke so highly of you. If he didn't want to see you first, I'd kill you myself for tarnishing Cerberus' name."

She didn't have a moment to react to it, instead, klaxons blared, and danger lights pulsed. The rhythm of the horns rose and fell as the sirens flashed in a stunning shade of orange. A message came on the loading bay displays, repeating the same phrase over and over again.

"CODE BLACK-2. CODE BLACK-2."

"Black-2? Aw, that's just the stone-storm hitting the base," said one Cerberus trooper to the other. She almost felt ashamed for him. Where did they get their recruits? Were they all this incompetent?

"No, you fool!" Kai Leng spat.

"Then what's a Code Bla-" he held his tongue the second Kai Leng unsheathed his sword at his throat.

"Do _not_ leave her. That goes for you over there too!" pointing his blade threateningly at the guards standing over Jack. "Alenko? Alenko, you ass, send more men to watch over the krogan!"

He was pacing up and down the bay, coordinating troop movements and barricades. There was an air of panic and haste floating around, and Miranda relished in it.

"But, what's a Black-2?" the trooper said, just out of Kai Leng's earshot.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Miranda chuckled, awaiting the hammer-fall. Shots started to go off outside, with shouts of hurried commands. The trooper looked back at her, just in time to see her raise her chin slowly. "Code Blacks' are mobilisation calls. You're under attack," she said with a triumphant smirk.

* * *

_**You will not believe how much I wanted to write this scene. Had it mulling in my head for a few months now, and I needed to see where it would fit in the grand scheme of things. Anyway, reviews are the life force of any fanfic writer, and I'm no different. So please, drop a review :) After all, it is just down there…**_


	8. VIII

_**Captured by Kai Leng, Miranda faces a dire situation, but with the Cerberus base under attack, a window of opportunity opens. Will she get out of it unscathed? Or will this attack prove nothing more than a tiny bump in the Illusive Man's grand scheme?**_

* * *

"Wipe that smug look off of your face!" spat Kai Leng. His typical graceful gait was now gone, replaced instead by a powerful, commanding swagger. The klaxons still rang loudly, and a full compliment of Cerberus troopers were coming through the door. "This isn't going to last long, because whoever was foolish enough to attack us is going to be turned into ashes!" His demeanour was solid, seemingly unfazed by the sudden invasion. Of course, Miranda didn't expect anything else from a cold-hearted assassin like him.

A faint boom of a distant explosion came through the walls of the loading bay, briefly overwhelming the persistent rattle of the stone-storm gathering outside.

"Alenko! Kaidan, what's your status?" Kai Leng said sharply. She couldn't tell outright, but from the look on his face, there wasn't a response. "Dammit, too much interference." His omni-tool glowed brightly as it powered up, and with a few taps, a vidcomm link popped up. There were several large monitors in the background, all too blurry for her to read. "Brontel. What's the situation?"

"Not good. These guys know what they're doing. We're in a goddamn pincer, with the storm at our backs and the attackers at the front."

"The Krogan, is he still secure?"

"Kaidan had me dispatch a squad from the front line to bolster the ranks, but if he breaks out, they won't-"

"Then make sure he doesn't break out," he hissed back.

"Yes sir," Brontel complied.

"Good. Now get me flight clearance. I need to move the prisoners off base."

"But sir, the stor-"

"I said now!"

The feed cut off, and Kai Leng started to pace towards one of the parked shuttles.

"Get these two on the shuttle." A cold, armoured gauntlet yanked her upwards, carting her towards the open bay of a shuttle. Jack, being unconscious, was already inside, propped limply against the compartment walls. A flashing alert came up on Kai Leng's hand. "The rest of you, defensive perimeter around the doors." Tapping the alert, another vidcomm link opened up with Brontel on the screen again.

"Sir, something's wrong with our systems, I can't get you clearance!" Miranda smiled at her building opportunity, gathering her energy and focus in an attempt to break out from the shackles.

"What?" he shot back.

"There's a worm in the system!"

"You just shut down a worm! Why is this posing a problem for you!"

"I'm dealing with it now, but the last one was child's play compared to this!"

"I don't care, just get me that damn flight clearance!"

The feed went dark, and at the exact same time, the lights and the alarms shut down. It was only for a brief moment, but when everything came back on, the alarms were silent. Miranda hadn't expended much energy, so her biotics were still good for combat. All she needed was to break the couplings holding her together, and she could take control of the shuttle as soon as the doors opened.

"You!" pointing at a smaller trooper clad completely in black. "Get those doors open, I don't care if we don't have any goddamn clearance, we need to leave now!"

Fearfully, the man raced towards the loading bay's control panel, but no matter how many times he tried opening the doors, he was met with a large red exclamation mark.

"They won't open, the system's loc-" his sentence was cut off with a gurgle as Kai Leng levelled and discharged his hand-blaster at him.

"You three," pointing at the troopers surrounding Miranda. "Grab those combat shields and form up at the door."

In all of this, Kai Leng still managed to remain deadly calm, but Miranda could tell just how enraged and frustrated he was under the surface. Had she been in his position, she would've felt exactly the same.

The battles outside still raged, gunfire and violent stone falls merging together in a rattling orchestra of death.

"You," pointing at the last black-clothed soldier. "Get that door open, or you end up like him," Kai Leng commanded him menacingly.

Without a word, he hurried over to the console, and to his fortune, opened it without a hitch.

"Wait," Kai Leng cautioned. "Shields out first, then three more of you trail behind. I am not going to lose these two to whomever's attacking us."

She would've punched him for objectifying her like that, but for him, she had something even deadlier in mind.

"Coast is clear!" one of the troopers buzzed back.

"Head for central control, and keep a tight formation."

She was lugged out, constricted at the elbow by a tight ivory grip. The tension in the air was unavoidable. She could sense that every trooper surrounding her was completely unaware of what was going on. The attackers had to be pros, no simple mercenary gang would've had the nerve to hit a Cerberus base just as they were mobilising. Not to mention risking themselves getting caught in a stone-storm. That required some serious courage, or more likely, a terrible lack of brains. To her, it didn't matter. All she needed was the right time to break the couplings, and get her and Jack out of here.

They crept along the hallways at a careful, yet gruelling pace. The oddly soft clatter of gunfire could now be just barely heard through the thick walls when suddenly, the escort stopped with a clang as their shields dug into the ground.

"CONTACT!" a trooper yelled.

"Filters on! Get the lights!" shouted a familiar voice. "Malia, Jensen, get those fields up!"

Instantly, she was bathed in darkness, with brief sparks of muzzle flash lighting up the hall. Bullets got caught in revolving mass effect fields, and the returning fire pinged off the shields and whizzed over her head.

"Avoid hitting the captives!" said whoever was in charge.

This was it. Her biotics flared like a match bursting into violet flames, shattering the wrist couplings into a million tiny bits. She rolled backwards, leaving the rear troopers in a crushing singularity. It didn't take very long after that to put down the rest of the escort. Her ears were perked, listening for the pained scream of Kai Leng, but the conflict dissipated too quickly.

"All clear!"

"Filters off, Tali, get the lights!" said that same familiar voice.

A stunning blast of light hit her eyes, sending her into a state of brief disorientation. Instinctively, her hand flew over her face, but it didn't protect her from the disbelief she felt when she saw who saved her.

"Garrus?" she gasped.

"Lawson! I can't believe you, going on a revenge mission without me?" he joked. "You can explain all of this later," he turned over his shoulder to his squad, "get her conscious!" pointing at Jack. "We move in five!"

As always, Garrus was standing tall, lofting his battle rifle up and propping it against his shoulder plate. The scarring he'd received the first time she'd met him had subsided, melding into the grey chitin that was his skin. Hidden behind a tactical visor were his two, sharp turian eyes, and the reason why he was such a brilliant marksman.

"Tali's going to be over Menae when she sees you!"

"What?"

"It's a human saying right? Over Luna, or something," he said confusedly.

"It's 'over the moon,'" she corrected him. "Wait," she said, taking a look around at the bodies. All were accounted for, except for one crucial casualty. "That slippery bastard," she said through gritted teeth. Her fists were clenched tight, causing her nails to dig deep into her skin.

"What is it?" he asked her, levelling out his rifle.

"Kai Leng got away," she grunted.

"Alright hold on," activating his omni-tool. "Patch into this frequency," and in an instant, her omni-tool buzzed. A few taps and she was on the same frequency as Garrus. "Tali, we've got Miranda and Jack. Don't ask how. Miranda's patched in our comms, but Jack's out cold."

"Miranda?" she said in utter disbelief. "How- never mind, what is it?"

"Did you track any movement leaving our location in the last 3 minutes?"

"…none. Sorry Miranda," she said apologetically. "Also, I don't know how to tell you this, but we all need to get moving! We'll get cut off by the storm in around seven minutes!" she said frantically.

"What about Grunt?" Miranda added.

"He's here too?" he said. "If and when we get out of here, you're telling me exactly what's going on. Tali, I need a…"

"Way ahead of you, there's a heavily guarded junction on your way out, I can't see into it, but there's a larger-than-usual mass of troopers there. They have to be guarding something."

"Okay, thanks. Clear out, and we'll meet you at the RZ."

Miranda's perked up when she heard the distinct sound of biotics being activated. It was Jack, just waking up, and holding one of Garrus' soldiers in a chokehold.

"Jack! Stand down!"

"Miranda, what's… Garrus?" she said, mouth agape. She dropped the asari to the ground, gasping for air. "What the fuck are you doing here?" she blurted.

"We'll all explain ourselves later," he turned back to his troops again. "Change of plans! We're hauling ass right now!"

The troops prepped themselves, venting their thermal sinks, and checking their amps. Seven minutes to get Grunt, and get out of the base. It was cutting it close, but they could do it.

"Jack, grab a gun," Miranda said.

"Don't need it, Lawson," instantly lighting herself up in a haze of deep purple energy. "Guns are for pussies."

They had split into two teams, and were both thundering towards the same junction. The biotics on Garrus' squad had already spawned singularities to catch the troopers behind the barriers. It only took Jack and Miranda one glance at each other to know exactly what they were going to do. Flaring up, and launching at the same time, they sent two warp fields spiralling towards the central mass of the singularities. The ensuing eezo explosion threw the barricades apart and made the other guards who were caught in the blast easy targets. A hiccup of gunfire began, ending as quickly as it started. In the short span of a few moments, they had taken out close to eight or nine troopers.

"Five minutes! Tali, get the Hammerhead down here, the rest of you, secure our exit," Garrus barked.

"Ready?" Miranda said to Jack.

"Hold up!" said Garrus, holding a single talon up. "I hear screaming."

He was right. A brutal, gurgling scream could be just barely heard through the thick, plated door. It abruptly ended, and Miranda swore she could hear the sound of something being tossed against the wall. All of a sudden, the doors parted, revealing Grunt, swathed in layers of blood, and completely unfazed by it. All three of them were absolutely gobsmacked at the scene he was leaving behind. White walls were splattered with the deep red splatter of fresh blood, and on the floor, dismembered limbs and torn off armour plates laid there lifelessly. A broken, twisted metal cube was left in the centre, and Grunt glanced back it with a sneer.

"Puny Cerberus troopers," he said. "Finally! You came!" he boomed at them. "Garrus, what are you doing here?" he said, confused.

"Uh… Tali? We got Grunt," Miranda said through the comms, barely able to contain her amazement.

"Great, now hurry up! We need to get out of here! Garrus has the RZ, follow him!" she said in a rush. Miranda could hear the howling wind coming through the comm-link, and shuddered at the thought of being caught in it.

"No time to explain, Grunt. Just follow Garrus," Miranda said urgently.

"Let's move people!" Garrus announced, running ahead with the three of them trailing behind him. "Jensen! Prime the explosives!"

Frantically, they ran behind Garrus, following him around corners, until they finally reached the exit. The door opened as they neared, exposing them to the building stone-storm outside. Garrus' squad was waiting for them, encased by a revolving purple bubble. Swarms of pebbles and rocks were swirling around, knocking into vehicles and getting knocked aside by their biotic field.

"Jack, get a field up!" Miranda ordered her, encasing her and Grunt with her own biotics.

They all ran into the storm, feeling every single impact that rocketed into their fields. Thankfully, the transport flew in ahead of them, lowering its cargo bay door to admit them. The remainder of Garrus' squad filed into the cargo bay first, their biotics still flared up and protecting them from the storm. Miranda and Grunt climbed aboard, but they stopped when they heard faint gunshots behind them.

"Jesus! Who the hell is that?" Jack yelled.

"That can't be…" Garrus gasped.

Kaidan and a small detachment of Cerberus troops were just coming out of the base, shooting fruitlessly at them. His twisted metal face was held in a permanent menacing sneer, and it was directed straight at her.

"Jack! Get on board now!" she called out.

Garrus' squad was returning fire, covering their retreat, but the biotics were growing tired, with drops of sweat dripping visibly down their faces. The second Garrus and Jack were both on board Miranda hit the door control herself. Slowly, the door lifted upwards, closing the cargo bay.

"Jensen! Set it off!" Garrus yelled.

The troops outside were still firing at them, but in a span of a few moments, they were cast asunder by an almighty blast. They flew into the air helplessly, some pounding painfully against a truck, others getting pelted by the deadly storm. Kaidan, however, in a last ditch effort to kill them, sprayed his SMG uselessly at the cargo bay. The bullets ricocheted off of the edges and rippled into the biotic barrier, but as one of the biotics collapsed, a stray bullet grazed Miranda's arm.

"ARGH!" she winced in pain.

The Hammerhead lurched forward, climbing upwards into Pharos' atmosphere, causing Miranda to crash painfully into the door as she clutched at her bleeding wound.

"Dammit! Who's got a medi-gel pack?" Garrus barked.

Instantly, one of his men came over to her, clutching a clear bag filled with a viscous orange liquid. She snatched it out of his hands, and ripped it open violently with her teeth. Carefully, she oozed it out of the pouch, and onto the bullet hole. The cold gel had already begun to sterilise and clot the wound, tingling her flesh as it did so.

"Garrus," she groaned, "med-scan me."

He obliged, aiming his omni-tool at her and casting her in a sweeping orange light.

"The slug grazed your bone," he said as the chart popped up. A flashing warning light hovered over her left arm, and with a few gestures, Garrus zoomed in on it. "We're going to have to get it fully checked out once we get you on the _Obstinate_."

"It's fine, I'm fine," she said, waving him away with her other arm.

Gradually, she got on her feet, but the Hammerhead was still climbing, causing her to stumble.

"Okay, Garrus, what the hell is going on here? Why were you the ones to pull us out of the shit?" Jack asked in her threatening manner.

"I got a package back when we were all on the _Normandy_, from an old friend of Shepard's and mine. Liara T'Soni. Miranda, you met her once, when you were Illium with John." He took a deep sigh, and then continued. "By then, she was already working for a group called the Reaper Defence Agency."

"A hundred credits I could tell you what they do…" Jack joked.

"Impossible, people don't believe in the Reapers. Why would there be an entire organisation to defend against them!" Miranda said dismissively.

"I had the same idea you did, but it turns out John's warning didn't fall on deaf ears," Garrus explained. "You must've heard about Jacob, right?"

She solemnly bowed her head in memoriam. Jacob had been a long friend of Miranda's, and a pit grew in her stomach when she remembered how she took the news. Back then, she was still enthralled in her search for Oriana, and only paid it a few seconds mind. Now that it was over, she realised how much he'd miss him. He was the man that she first worked with, both of them new faces to Cerberus, and both of them soon to become Cerberus' best agents. There would be time to mourn him later, after they were safe.

"Just get to the point Vakarian," Jack said sharply.

"Tali and I, we joined up with the RDA because it was the right thing to do. We both saw what the Reapers were capable of. You all have too. That damned Collector base was all their doing. Not to mention Aratoht…"

Miranda's eyes shot open.

"John's trial!" she burst. "I need to get back to Earth!"

"Calm down, Miranda. It was all staged. He's with the RDA too. You were supposed to join up as well, but… I guess something got in the way."

"My sister…" she began. "My sister was reported missing."

"Is that why you were here?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah, but-"

"Don't press it, Garrus. That story does _not _end well." In a rare moment of compassion, Jack had stepped in. Emotion never got to her like this, but right now, she couldn't think of any words that she could say to him. "Okay, so you joined up with this RDA," Jack said incredulously. "But did I miss some news blast that told me Cerberus was actually a group of Reapers? I didn't see any fucked up spider legs coming out of the troopers."

"The RDA came from a Cerberus cell dedicated to Reaper artefacts. They defected as soon as they realised what the Illusive Man wanted with their research. All you need to know is, Cerberus has had a vendetta against the RDA from day one. We're part of their security arm, defending against Cerberus with the occasional overwatch mission, escort, and pre-emptive strike."

"So they were mobilising against you guys," Jack said, realising the connection. "Holy fuck, we got lucky attacking today," she said, amazed at their fortune.

Suddenly, the entire ship jolted violently as it broke through the upper atmosphere.

"Guys!" Tali said over the PA. "Buckle up, we're going to be making a hard entrance!"

Garrus switched his comm channel, and patched Grunt, Miranda, and Jack into it.

"What's going on?" he hissed.

"The _Obstinate _is under attack! The Cerberus cruiser squad got here early!"

They all tried to catch a glimpse through the front view port. Up ahead, spanning what must've been several hundred metres was the _Obstinate_, a turian built cruiser, being swarmed by a cloud of Cerberus interceptors.

"Dammit! Not my first ship!" he spat. "Alright, everyone, strap in!"

"Gah! This is why I hate flying!" Grunt objected loudly as he strapped himself down.

"Oh I am not going to die like this. No way," Jack yelled. "Tali! WE BETTER MAKE IT OUT OF THIS, OR I WILL FUCKING GUT YOU MYSELF!"

"You think I'm not trying!" she shouted back.

"This is Echo Squad requesting permission to dock, over?" Garrus said into his comms. Tali was too busy flying to do it herself.

"If this ship gets caught in cross-fire, we're doomed!" Miranda said.

"The RDA made a few modifications to the old Hammerhead chassis. Grunt, you couldn't even fit in here before, remember? Now we've got this cargo bay, and kinetic barriers on it!" he yelled over the roar of the engines.

All Miranda could do was hope for the best, and hope that Tali's piloting was as good as her hacking.

"Sorry, _Obstinate, _repeat last?" Garrus said.

Miranda must've missed the incoming message through the unravelling frenzy, but she paid all attention to what was being said now.

"Docking clearance authorised. You're cutting it pretty damn close Commander!"

"What's the ETA of the main Cerberus attack force?" Garrus inquired.

"Five minutes, they'll be in maximum weapons range in three. They sent a few fighter squ-"

"Yeah, tell us something we don't know!" he yelled back as the Hammerhead swerved. "Tali! How bad does the fight look?"

"The ship's GARDIAN batteries are lighting up like crazy! I think she's weeding out the crop." Her voice was quivering with anxiety, barely masked by the subtle shrill of her exo-suit's voice box. "Garrus, I know we had that one rule, but if we don't make it out of her-"

"We'll make it out of here if you get us out of here Tali! Come on, we're almost there!" Garrus yelled. "Jensen! Get on the weapons system! Don't worry about what's ahead of us! Just cover our tails!"

The Hammerhead flew towards the ship, banking slowly towards the main cargo bay. For the first time, Miranda felt absolutely no sense of control. Her life was in the hands of Tali, and she was counting on her to get them to safety. The main gun rumbled several times, but without a view port, no one but the gunner knew if it was all for nothing. Leaning forward, Miranda caught a glimpse of the ship's rear as the Hammerhead made its final approach. Bright red lights discharged in the distance as the GARDIAN batteries defended against the interceptors, and the landing bay's lights shone bright like a single light bulb in a sea of black. Steadily, Tali piloted the Hammerhead into the landing bay, veering off centre, and almost crashing into a stack of crates. The engines powered down, and the cargo bay shuddered as it fell to rest on its landing gears. Hissing as it did so, the cargo doors opened, admitting the bright white light of the _Obstinate_'s landing bay into the Hammerhead. A medical team was waiting for them, rushing in to cater to the fallen biotics and to her one wound that she almost forgot existed. She was ushered out of the ship while the medics blabbered on about the nature of her wound. They were applying dressing to the wound when Tali stumbled clumsily out of the Hammerhead. Gradually, a round of applause built up gaining intensity until it became a full fledged standing ovation. She had done it, bringing the team back with not only no casualties, but with three more hopeful additions to the RDA. Garrus strode up towards her and put his arm around her tired shoulders, holding her close to him.

"Alright! Hey! Quiet down!" he ordered. "We're still not out of it yet! We've got a pack of Cerberus cruisers bearing down on us right now. As some of you humans would say, it's out of the frying pan, and into the fire! I want everyone who's got naval combat training to report to the bridge! Jensen, Smith, go with Tali to engineering!" he ordered resolutely. "Nathus, Pathos! Get to the batteries, do Palaven proud. The rest of you, stay out of the way."

At his command, they dispersed, all moving in different directions.

"Lawson, what do we do?" Jack asked as she approached her.

"Krogan are meant to fight and die on the ground! This is cowardice!"

"Grunt, relax," Garrus cut in. "We'll get out of this. You three come with me to the bridge. We'll give you front row seats to the action."

The second they stepped onto the bridge, they experienced pure, unbridled chaos; commands were being shouted across the room, warning lights were blaring, and the looming figures of three Cerberus attack cruisers were bearing down on them through the wide viewport.

"Commanding Officer Vakarian on deck. XO Nintus relieved."

"Everyone, sit-rep now!" Garrus barked.

"Three cruisers on bearings 089, 097, and 164. Two cruisers are on intercept trajectory, the other one on a slingshot trajectory around the far side of the planet," the XO complied.

"Dammit, they're trying to get us in a pincer. Okay, get us out of weapons range. Get me full weapons scans and progress report on the interceptors!"

"Moving on bearing 172, full-speed."

"All class-B Cruisers with standard MACs and GARDIAN defences."

"9% of the forces remain, but almost half our batteries are reaching critical overheat limits."

"Alright, fall back into grav-pull, begin a mild slingshot orbit, BUT accommodate for a last minute break. I don't want the ship breaking up when we turn around." At his whim, the ship swerved around and started on a slingshot trajectory. "On my word, deploy C&D mines, and activate their cloaks. Ready? Mark!" he ordered.

The viewport darkened as they came around the dark side of Pharos, and on the stern-side camera feed tiny flecks of light disappeared as the top-of-the-line Cloak and Dagger mines disappeared into space.

"Notify me when they go into deep slingshot orbit. They're going to want to gain on us," he said astutely, highly confident that he was thinking ahead of them.

A few crucial moments passed silently, but in ship-to-ship combat, silences like these were often the calm before the storm.

"They're in slingshot orbit, sir!"

"Good, now break from trajectory and swing around! Come up along side their starboard, within JAVLIN range."

Miranda couldn't make heads or tails of this situation. Naval combat was always something she actively tried to avoid, and she was sure that Grunt would say the same thing. All she could do was hold onto the railing and get out of the way when she needed to.

"Sir, they tripped the C&D mines!"

"Good, now close in and blast through their shields!"

The two ships were now visible on the view screens, apparently thrown off course by the mine explosions. Their kinetic barriers were glistening from the mine explosions, coming between them and the ship's vital structures. They grew in size as the _Obstinate _bore down upon them, finally coming about and getting within torpedo range. A screen to Miranda's left displayed the view from the ship's portside, their ivory ablative armour plating completely filling up the picture.

"Sir! Torpedoes incoming!"

"Let the shields take the brunt of it! Vent the GARDIAN batteries and focus fire on the closest cruiser!" Garrus ordered. "Fire torpedo caches A1 through to B4!"

Trails of gas marked the path of the numerous amounts of disruptor torpedoes. They collided with the cruiser's already weakened shield, disabling it and then colliding with the hail of laser fire from the GARDIAN batteries. Garrus must've accounted for this, because there were so many mid-space explosions, she couldn't keep count. Miranda had a basic understanding of the GARDIAN system, they could shoot down incoming missiles, but if they got too hot, they'd have to vent, leaving a vulnerable chink in the ship's armour.

"Their shields are down!"

"GARDIAN batteries venting!"

"Fire Javelin broadsides!" Garrus commanded.

Several streaks of gas arced into the portside camera feed. A few were shot out of space by the few barely functioning lasers, but an overwhelming majority came together to detonate, creating several deadly warp fields. Flames rushed out and then dissipated into the vacuum of space as the torpedoes made breaches in the ship's armour. But that wasn't all. Unable to control its motion, the foremost cruiser plummeted into Pharos' gravity well, colliding brutally with its counterpart's shields.

Cheers and cries of success erupted around her, and she let out a deep sigh, just realising now that she had been holding her breath. Garrus' shoulders fell in relief, raising a claw to rub the back of his neck.

"Set a course for the relay, good work everyone," he announced.

"Sir, what about the third cruiser?"

"They won't be able to get around in time to hit us with their main guns," he sighed.

A vidcomm alert flashed on his hand. She couldn't hear her from here, but Tali's glass visage popped up. Words of congratulations were no doubt being exchanged, but as Miranda neared Garrus, she heard something completely unexpected.

"…love you, Garrus."

"You too, dear."

"What was that?" Miranda asked, taken aback.

"Oh! Miranda, I, uh, didn't see you there," he chuckled awkwardly.

"Sir, there's an incoming emergency broadcast coming through on the QEC," said an assistant.

"Who from?"

"Commander Shepard," he replied.

* * *

By the time they had all raced to the comm room, the message was already playing on loop. Miranda was the first one there, practically crashing through the door. The signal was fuzzy, with John's body fizzling in and out of existence. A part of her revelled in seeing him, despite the clear lack of intimacy the encounter held. A mutual silence fell upon them as the message began to play again, but from the gaunt expression on John's face, the news was no doubt bad.

"To all RDA bases across the galaxy, this is Commander John Shepard," the recording began. "The Graveyard Protocol is in effect. I repeat: The Graveyard Protocol is in effect. Mobilise all forces, and prepare Reaper countermeasures."

"Reaper countermeasures?" she whispered to herself. "No…"

"They've come. The Reapers are here," the message blazoned.

"Keelah se'lai…" Tali gasped.

And like that, for the first time in an age, Miranda Lawson was scared.

* * *

_**I'll be quite honest; this was the source of deadly procrastination these past few weeks. My final exams are near, yet I couldn't go on without at least TRYING to keep this up. As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated, not to mention extremely welcome! Leave one! The review box IS just down there… **_


	9. IX

_**Creeping towards them, The Reapers have finally come. Wanting nothing more than to take them all down, John has to steel himself for the coming battle, but before he can fight, he must run…**_

* * *

John paced powerfully through the bustling halls of Alpha facility, flanked by Ashley and James. It had only been a few moments after he'd activated the Graveyard protocol, sending mobilisation orders to every RDA outpost around the galaxy. Appropriately, an evacuation order surged through the planetary comm channels soon after, and the hustle that he was wading through was the result of that.

"Ashley, what's the situation?" he asked.

"All facilities are at Threat Level Alpha," she began as she read off of her omni-tool. "The _Ironfast, Thermopylae, _and the_ Finesse _are all being outfitted with the new Scythebreaker rounds. They'll be ready for launch in five minutes."

"Good. James, did you get the sensor readouts from Central?"

"Yeah Commander, they put the Reapers just outside of the system. ETA in 40."

"Okay, we need to be wheels up in ten then."

They approached the docking bay, stepping out of the hectic hallways and into chaos itself. Docked in the centre of the bay, was the _Ironfast. _A turian-made vessel, the _Ironfast_ was the latest in naval tech advancement. It sported four meters of class-A ablative armour plating, mounted with a single mass accelerator cannon, and two pairs of Thannix cannons, one on its starboard, and the other at its port. Two red streaks adorned its hull, running the entire length of the vessel. As of right now, it was being loaded with all sorts of precious cargo: mobile servers, research drives, Scythebreaker caches. Anything and everything that was essential to the war that was looming over them was now being crammed inside the ship.

"Damn," James whistled. "She is fine."

"Yeah. Turians sure know how to make 'em," agreed John. "Ash, how much longer till the flotilla is in the air?" he asked her as they made their way to the closest docking tube.

"Sigma and Epsilon blocks have completed data purges, and the _Thermopylae _and the _Finesse_ are running their pre-launch procedures now."

The _Thermopylae _and the _Finesse _were tasked with escorting the multitude of passenger vessels that were leaving the planet. Being of a much heavier weight class, the _Ironclad _was to be the flagship of this small flotilla.

"Lets not waste anymore time, then," he said as he stepped onto the docking tube.

Inside the ship, the bridge was awash with commotion. Flight Lieutenants were scurrying about, making pre-flight checks on all systems. At the literal centre of it all, Captain Marcellus Rykas stood tall, receiving and interpreting datapads at an amazing speed.

"Orion, seal the cargo bay. Get all hands to launch stations." His orders were crisp, and concise, nothing less than what was expected from a turian commander. "Calia, link up with the _Thermopylae _and the _Finesse_. Transmit these RZ co-ordinates."

"Commander, crew members present and accounted for."

"Good, batten down the hatches and get us in the air."

"Also sir-"

"Yes Iris, I'm quite aware of Commander Shepard's presence," Marcellus said with the faint semblance of a grin. "It's an honour, Commander," he said as he waded through his crew.

"The honour's all mine, Marcellus." John took his outstretched claw and shook it as if he were greeting another human. Shaking hands had been purely a human custom for quite a while, but as of late, the two once warring cultures seemed to be slowly assimilating with one another.

"We're all ready to take this fight to the Reapers, Commander." The conviction in his voice was as solid as the _Ironfast_'s battle plating.

"Not today, Captain. Today, we just need to get out of the system," he said.

"I agree," he added. "You heard the Commander, bring the engines to 50 per cent, get us to atmobreak speed and to the RZ."

With a lurch, the _Ironfast_ started to slowly ascend, battling hard with the pressing gravity of Ontaheter. Just outside the main viewport, the vacant surroundings of the docking bay started to disappear into the bottommost limits of the screen, giving way to the thick blanket of red dust that covered the planet's surface.

"Lieutenant Orion, prepare the detonation codes. The moment we hit the ionosphere, blow the facility."

It was standard protocol for the RDA to bury all and any research facility that they were abandoning. Even if they were running from destruction itself, measures had to be taken to ensure the security of their agency was airtight.

The vessel continued to battle against the pull of Ontaheter's gravity, rumbling deeply under John's boots.

"Give me 60 per cent on the engines," Marcellus ordered calmly. In response, the ship began to push harder against the gravity, churning John's stomach ever so slightly.

"Breaking out of atmo was never this unsettling on the _Normandy_," Ashley complained.

"Oh come on, Staff Lieutenant!" James exclaimed playfully. "This ain't that bad!"

"Sir, we've reached the ionosphere."

"Send it."

Far below them, ten strategically placed eezo-warheads detonated themselves, sending Alpha facility crashing down into a pile of irreparable rubble.

A few moments later, one of the flight lieutenants spoke up. "Sigma, and Epsilon facilities are off the map."

"Looks like I beat Harris to it," Marcellus said with a hint of pride.

"We've broken atmo, sir."

"What's the status on the rest of the flotilla?"

"They're approaching the RZ, sir."

John felt like a fly on the wall, silently observing the brutal efficiency of the _Ironfast_'s crew. He had already made a few mental notes on improving his captaincy, if he made it back to the _Normandy. _

"Our long-range LADAR, is it picking up the Reaper force?"

"Yes sir, they're on the other side of the star," the navigation officer replied.

At the centre of the bridge was a circular dais, which housed a full definition hologram projector. Right now, it projected the entire Columbia system, four Earth-sized planets orbiting around an F-class star. Three large blue triangles were hovering around the third furthest planet from the local sun, marking the positions of the three escorting starships. On the opposite edge of the system, an even larger triangle was slowly encroaching into the system. This red omen represented the Reapers, and despite the distance between them, its presence still made John shiver with fear.

"Good, they're still too far out to get to us," Marcellus said to himself.

"Incoming transmission from the _Finesse, _sir."

"Put it on the main-screen."

With a few hand gestures, the image of the commander of the _Finesse_, Commander Ivula L'Rana, obscured the main viewport.

"Marcellus, the flotilla is ready to head out. Just give the word."

"Head for the relay, we need to get out of here before the Reapers get any closer." he said. "Marcellus out." He turned to address his crew, "bring us about on heading zero-two-zero, and bring the engines down to 50 per cent."

And like that, they were on their way towards the relay, and one step closer to getting back home.

"Sir!" cried out one of the deck officers. "The Reaper force just fell off the grid!"

"What? You're telling me they disappeared?" he said as he paced towards the holomap.

Where a large red triangle once was, empty space remained. All that was left upon the face of the map were the friendly blue markers that denoted the remainder of the flotilla's position. Alarm bells rang within John's head, and he decided that his silence could not be held inside for much longer.

"Marcellus, have your crew scan for high frequency Hawking radiation," John suggested.

"Orion, get on that, now!"

It only took a few moments for the scanners to relay the results back to the bridge.

"Give us the results on the holomap," John ordered.

There was a short delay this time, no doubt attributed to the officer's confusion over the order. John wasn't his commanding officer, after all. Despite this, Flight Lieutenant Orion managed to get the results onto the map.

It didn't take a scientist to interpret the incoming stream of data. There was always a small amount of Hawking radiation in the background of space, but whenever any vessel entered FTL travel, a large amount of it was emitted at their entry point.

"Spirits…" Marcellus gasped. "Full speed ahead towards the relay. Get the _Thermopylae _and the _Finesse_ on the horn, tell them to turn their noses towards us and arm their guns."

"Commander, what's going on?" Ashley asked him as she crossed the bridge.

On cue, an alert rang from the holomap. The large red triangle had returned, but it wasn't where it was before. If his estimates were correct, they were only three hundred thousand kilometres off of their position. In naval combat, that was like having a dog trailing at your heels.

"Sternside cameras, now!"

The main viewport was once again obscured, but this time it showed the video feed being streamed from the rear of the ship. At this range, it was hard to discern their targets from the cold black of space, but with a slight squint of his eyes, he could see them.

"Oh God," Ashley gasped. "The Reapers…"

"They made an FTL jump in-system?" James asked in disbelief. "I thought that wasn't possible!"

"Not for us," John said quietly. "But for them, anything's possible."

A large fleet of Reapers were bearing down on their position. It seemed as if their sleek, metallic claws were reaching out for him, desperately craving to take him in, and strangle every last vestige of life from his worn-out body.

"Orion, turn us around. Calia, get me the firing solutions of the other two ships, and Artus, charge the MAC and load it with a Scythebreaker. Do the same with the Thannix cannons."

Shrill beeping emanated from the tacmap once again, as it displayed the firing solutions of the _Thermopylae _and the _Finesse. _On the map, the distance between the flotilla, and the Reaper fleet couldn't have been more than a hand span apart. In reality that translated to at least a hundred thousand kilometres, and at the speed they were approaching, that distance was whittling down at an alarming rate.

"Full stop! Turn us around, and get firing solutions for all guns!"

The ship groaned as it came to a stop, only to spin itself around. Slowly, the entire fleet of Reapers came in view through the forward viewport.

They appeared to be like giant spiders, with a head that resembled that of a squid. As they drew nearer, John could make out their metallic composition. Nothing about them was even slightly organic, just pure, synthetic apathy.

"Contacts approaching weapons range sir!"

"Get Captain Harris and Commander L'Rana on the comms," Marcellus barked.

A conference link was established between the three ships. Marcus Harris, the human commander of the _Thermopylae_, was the first to speak.

"Christ, there's too many of them," he said in utter despair.

"Goddammit Marcus, hold firm! You, Ivula, and I need to make sure we get every last civilian out of the system."

Muddled calls of evacuation flooded in through the comm-links, and John could only discern that all non-essential personnel were being jettisoned off in lifeboats. All of a sudden, Marcellus turned to face Ashley and James, holding his claw out to the door.

"Get Shepard out of here. You know your orders."

They could only reply with a short, solemn nod. A gesture that was dreaded among soldiers. It was only passed between those that were being left behind, and those that were leaving them for dead.

"What the hell are you talking about, Marcellus?" he asked, before turning to James and Ashley. "What's going on?"

"Sir, thirty seconds till they're in range!"

"There's a prowler in the hangar! Get him off this ship, now!"

"Commander," Ashley pleaded with him. "There's no time to explain, we have to get you out of here!" Her hand was firmly grasped around his elbow, and James was already halfway out of the bridge's hatch.

As if to urge him on, the firing alarms went off, assaulting his ears with a loud, invasive cry.

"NOW!" Marcellus shouted. "Fire all guns!"

He didn't waste any time. Jumping through the hatch, he ran down towards the stern, and towards the hangar bay. Officers and crewmates were running all over the place, causing him to weave past them at a rushed pace. Not far behind him, Ashley and James were left to follow in his wake.

Just as he was about to board the elevator, a ship wide broadcast began to play.

"Attention all crew members," Marcellus's voice echoed. "This is your captain speaking." His voice was grave, and dead serious. "Today, we show the Reapers what it means to be turian." The elevator slowly descended the six decks into the hangar bay, while the main cannon boomed and rumbled throughout the ship. "There is no doubt that we won't survive this encounter, but that doesn't mean we can't go down fighting." With a hiss, the elevator doors parted, revealing a matte black vessel, large enough to just barely fit itself into the bay with a tiny amount of room to manoeuvre its way out. "Our names, and our plight, will go down on record, not just in the history of the Sixth Fleet, but in the history books on Palaven itself." The three of them ran into the portside hatch, closing it behind them as they strapped themselves in. Ashley keyed in the launch sequences, and the engines roared in response. Another salvo of slugs was launched at the Reapers, quaking them even inside the prowler. Marcellus's voice could still be heard through the intercom. "We will not falter here, people. Nor will we die without honour. They say that you never see a turians' back until they're dead. Lets show them exactly what that means." With great care, Ashley began to pilot the small vessel out into the black of space, and towards the glowing blue visage of the local Mass Relay. The comm link was still going strong, and as they neared the relay, feeling the unshakeable pull of the relay jolting the ship, John listened to the last words of Commander Marcellus Rykas. "For duty. For honour, and for Palaven."

The small screens mounted in the cockpit of the vessel erupted in a brilliant display of light. Carved in two by a Reaper cannon blast, the _Ironclad_ exploded, sending debris and bodies scattered into the dead of space. Not soon after, the _Finesse,_ and the _Thermopylae _were rendered asunder by the Reapers' unstoppable beams of light.

"Ashley, go! Get us the hell out of here!" John barked.

Keeping one eye on the Reapers, and the other on the relay, John gripped his seat as the prowler sped towards their salvation, and away from their closing death. Alarms went off, heightening John's anxiety.

"They've got weapons lock, Commander!" James shouted. "They're closing in!"

"We're almost there!" screamed Ashley.

Behind them, balls of red light spawned into existence as the Reapers charged their cannons. His heart pounded out of his body. In these precious moments, John found his life, once again, flashing by before him. Then, he saw Miranda, and he lingered upon her perfect face, hoping to carry it to his cold grave. He wished he could see her again, just once before they got to him, and as a brilliant light encapsulated him, he held on to that thought, hoping with all his might that it would come true.

* * *

Flicking and twisting them between her fingers, Miranda found herself staring at the scathed tags that John had left in her care. Ever since the activation of the Graveyard protocol, everything had become unbearable for her. For a while now, she'd been lying useless while John was probably out there fighting the Reapers tooth and nail. She felt herself compelled to join the battle, be by his side, and fight as the well-oiled machine that they once were. Alas, here she was, sitting at the edge of her bunk, feeling the wafer-thin mattress flatten underneath her. Thanks to the relay network, they arrived in the Sol system only hours after their scuffle with the Cerberus cruiser pack back on Pharos. Due to the immense size of the _Obstinate_ however, they had been stuck in orbit around Earth, gliding along with the small sea of orbital defence platforms guarding the planet's surface.

Her long, slender legs carried her to her cabin's viewport. From here, she could see the magnificent curvature of the Earth eclipsing the bright yellow sun that lay far behind it. Swirling cloud formations wisped below her, encapsulated by the glassy atmosphere.

In all its glory however, Miranda could only think of him, of John. There were 10 billion people living on this thriving hub of human culture, and John was their saviour, their hero, and their son.

Miranda couldn't help but think this, and it was because of this that she secretly despised herself. A woman as accomplished as she was in her line of work was not allowed to have these sorts of emotions. Yet, here they were, making her yearn for a man that was light-years away.

A voice from the door pulled her out of her head, and back into reality.

"Miranda," said Tali in her quavering accent. "Dr. Janus is on the QEC, he's requesting our presence for some reason."

Even behind her mask, Miranda could see Tali sneaking a glance at the steely chain she held in her hands. She gave a slight tilt of her helmet, as if to say that she understood her plight.

"We all miss him too, Miranda," she said. "Even Garrus does, under that thick chitin of his."

It wasn't like Miranda to open up so willingly to just anyone, and she wasn't going to go changing that now. Wordlessly, she nodded her acknowledgement, and put the tags back around her neck. Tali needed no further explanation, understanding the gesture with a shallow dip of her head, and a sharp turn on her heel as they both headed to the comm-room.

A pale holographic image of Dr. Janus was already present in the room as they entered. Garrus stood, propped up against the QEC console, dressed in a standard turian naval officer uniform. Out of the corner of her eye, Miranda swore she could see Tali put more sway in her hips as she walked up to Garrus' side.

"Pleasure to have you join us, Ms. Lawson. But I'm afraid I have to get straight to the point." He had his arms behind his back, allowing his lab coat to reveal the combat armour that he had underneath. "Last night, Earth-time, all contact with the Voyager cluster was lost. As you are well aware, that was the location of the primary Scythebreaker production line, and where Commander Shepard was stationed." His tone was deepening with caution and anxiety. "We are currently unbeknownst to his whereabouts, however, just before contact was severed, the _Ironclad_'s black-box transmission reached an outpost in a neighbouring cluster.

"While nothing is for certain yet," Dr. Janus continued. "Their records indicate a prowler-class vessel leaving their hangar, and we are inclined to believe that Shepard was on that ship." He wasn't quite done yet, judging by his uneasy stance. "Logic leads us to believe however, that had he survived, we would've heard from him now."

"Are you trying to tell me that he's dead?" Miranda burst loudly.

"Nothing's for certain yet, Ms. Lawson. Please, understand that all we have for now is speculation…"

"Well then, when you have some damn good evidence of his death, you better come here in person to hand it to me!" She felt her choler rise within her. "Otherwise, we don't stop looking."

"Miranda," Tali pleaded. "It's only been a few hours…"

Her eyes almost shot open in surprise. When had she become this emotional? A woman of her stature should not be acting this way. She already felt a response forming on her tongue, but Miranda held her words back, feeling that they were fuelled by emotion and not reason. Sensing her frustration, Garrus spoke up.

"Thank you, Dr. Janus, for this update. Is there anything else we need to know?" he asked.

"Just one thing," he said, piquing Miranda's attention. It was still an odd phenomenon to have a person look directly at you, despite the fact that they were in holographic form, but Miranda wouldn't let anyone know that. It was a sign of weakness, and that was something she didn't show. "Miranda, I'm recommending you take a stroll down on Earth," he said with gentle concern. "Clear your mind, stretch your legs, and breathe in some fresh air. It'll do you some good. Heaven knows we all need some 'good' right about now."

Of her own accord, she brought herself to request a shuttle down to the surface. A short time later, she found herself amongst the writhing mass of culture that was Seattle City, home to the second largest spaceport on Earth. The first thing she noticed was the unnatural amount of people streaming in and out of the vendors in the plaza just outside of the port. They seemed to be frenzied in their actions, scurrying about as if they were all on the run from someone. After setting her omni-tool's communicator to silent, she checked her chronometer on a hunch.

"Black Friday, of course," she sighed.

It was one of the many traditions that remained the same throughout the years. Through the discovery of eezo, the Charon relay, first contact with the turians, or even the Batarian-Human war, Black Friday would be the only thing that would stand tall through all adversity. It preyed on the one human vice that everyone had; greed. It made her sick just staring at all these crazed shoppers. Sick to her stomach.

Navigating the crowd was an easy task for her, thanks to her commanding swagger. It was almost as if she could part the sea of people through force of will alone. She jumped from vendor to vendor, browsing various weaponry upgrades, despite the RDA's access to cutting edge technology, or just casually looking through clothing catalogues, hoping to find something to buy John, when he returned. She couldn't bring herself to take her mind off of him. It had become her nature to worry for him, even though she knew exactly how capable he was at taking care of himself.

After settling for a simple leather jacket, Miranda paced out of the store, down towards the SACJUSTICE building. It was perched upon an expansive set treated stone steps, graced with Roman columns that were a tribute to the courthouses of old. Flanking the stone steps, two shining bronze statues of Lady Justice were standing proudly over the masses, with a sword in one hand, and a set of scales in the other.

Suddenly, a man shunted past her, racing down towards the steps. Every muscle in her body called out to leap at him and threaten his life should he ever try that again, but as another person shunted past, and another, and another, she began to grow suspicious, and began to follow the crowd.

"Is it true?" she heard someone say as she pushed past them.

"How did he get off the planet to begin with?" said someone else.

"Isn't he supposed to be in jail?" said another.

A startling realisation had started to spring upon Miranda, making her heart quicken, and her breath stop in anticipation. She craned her head, trying to get a glimpse of whatever was causing the commotion, when a voice shouted from behind her.

"Excuse me! Make way! Important Alliance business!"

Trying to squeeze his way through the crowd was Dr. Nathan Janus.

"Dr. Janus!" she called out, following him to the front of the crowd.

There were already guards forming a perimeter at the foot of the steps, holding back the public. Just as he reached the perimeter, Nathan looked back onto her and beamed.

"Miranda!" he smiled. "Oh, you're in for a treat."

Wordlessly, she followed him as he flashed his credentials to the guards.

"What is it?" she asked earnestly.

"It's the Commander. He made it back."

* * *

_**Damn! That was INSANE to write. You'd think that being free from school would give you some more time to write, but add in an Xbox and a copy of Halo 4, and you have one terrible procrastinator. Regardless, please, leave a comment, or a short review; anything that you think could help improve this piece. You'd be doing me a huge favour! :) **_


	10. X

_**After months of being separated from one another, Miranda is finally upon the precipice of being reunited with John. But as the Reapers make their decent unto Earth, how long will it be before they're torn apart once more?**_

* * *

Nathan wasted no time in leading Miranda straight to centre of the commotion. They strutted through a heavily guarded checkpoint, and right into an antechamber filled with assistants swamped with incoming distress calls. Their calming tones were smashed with the desperate cries of the people at the other end of the line, coming together to create a vocal anarchy.

"Sargent! Sir, you need to calm down."

"I'm sorry, did you just say there are spiders coming from the sky?"

"Reapers? I'm going to have to ask you to check your equipment, ma'am. That's not possible."

A nearby assistant passed the two of them, and Miranda instantly shot a hand out to grab him by the arm.

"Where's Commander Shepard?" she asked sharply.

"The Admirals' are debriefing him in the main chamber," the assistant replied hurriedly as he gestured towards the door behind him.

Without another word, she shot off alone towards the Admirals' chamber.

The Admirals' chamber was a grand spectacle. A gaping window revealed the cityscape of Seattle, casting the Admiralty board in a warm, natural light. At the edges of the room, two levels of Alliance personnel sat at various terminals, no doubt sweeping through the waves of information that were coming through. In all of this however, Miranda could only keep her eyes on the one man at the centre of the room.

"We need to prepare Earth for the invasion," John said, his voice resolute. "All these reports coming in, they're all from the Reapers. Trust me."

Every fibre in Miranda's body yearned for her to run towards him and let their lips collide in a passionate, loving embrace. It would be highly inappropriate of course, and it was taking all of her willpower to hold herself back.

"No, they can't be here this soon!" Admiral Mikhailovich said in disbelief. "Private Adson! Get me in contact with the Alliance base on Io!"

"No response, sir!" the private replied, after a few moments of frenzied typing.

"See?" John said. "We have to rally our forces," he added. Miranda could feel his passion building, preparing to shout the words that would flow out of his mouth. "These Reapers don't have souls, they can't be negotiated with. We don't know what they want from us, hell; we don't even know what they're capable of. All we know is that they're here to kill us." He paced up to the Admirals' bench, looking every single one of them dead in the eye. "What choice does that leave us?" he asked them, pausing briefly for effect. "I'll tell you what are choices are. We fight, or we die."

He had the entire room enthralled, and Miranda hadn't expected anything less than that. This was a man that could command a room with the shake of a fist. He was a man that could take your life as easily as he could save it. But most of all, this was a man whom she loved with all her heart, for all these reasons, and for many more.

Looks of consideration lingered upon the Admirals' faces. Even though they had to act like the Reapers didn't exist, they all knew that this day was coming, and to be caught off guard by their arrival would be foolish of them.

"Admirals!" called out one of the assistants. "Incoming transmission from Orbital Platform Delta!"

One of the larger screens at the side of the chamber lit up with a frightening image. Shining black plating glittered as a hundred hulls caught the rays of the Sun. As seconds passed, the force seemed to grow in size, until there were a thousand of them filling the screen. Miranda felt absolutely terrified, and that was not an emotion she was normally capable of experiencing. Some of them had specks of lights at their bows, shining so brightly that they seemed like eyes. Their black claws oscillated about, as if they were eager to taste the fear of an innumerable amount of souls. Suddenly, bulbs of bright red light began to amass among the fleet, and in an instant, the feed cut out.

"Lost contact with Delta, sir," said the assistant.

"Alpha, Epsilon, and Gamma too," grimaced another.

A collective look of despair formed along the Admirals' bench. It was obvious from their expressions that they all knew what was about to come. Miranda knew none of them personally. Her knowledge of them was limited to the information within the Cerberus files she'd browsed a while ago. However, she knew at least one thing about them that they all had in common. They would stop at nothing to ensure humanity's survival, and for that trait alone, she respected them.

Unable to say a word, the admirals contemplated their next move, causing the entire room to freeze in anticipation. It was only a moment after when the silence was broken, by a grey haired woman Miranda recognised as Admiral Stewart.

"Get on the comms, tell every single unit to evacuate every civilian they can," ordered Admiral Stewart. "We admirals will return to our ships, and we will buy the evacuation shuttles enough time to get to safety." She stood up to her feet, and the rest of the admirals followed suit. "You are all dismissed."

Instantly, the chaos began again. All around her, the assistants rushed in and out of the chamber, following the demands of their superiors. She stood there, like a rock parting a stampede of cattle, watching idly as they scurried about. The admirals all paced out of the chamber, taking a handful of the assistants with them. Somehow, in the midst of all this havoc, she managed to catch a glimpse of something outside through the window. Turning her focus, she caught it in full sight and instantly, her heart stopped.

"SHEPARD!" she called out.

The man she loved turned around to follow the sound of her voice. They locked eyes for the briefest of moments. In that small time, she felt an uncontrollable surge of emotion, but in rare phenomenon, her rational thinking won over her heart.

With a hand pointing outside the massive window, she called out, "Look out!"

A Reaper had begun to descend unto the city, its claws clanking around, ready to terrorise the city.

Its one eye began to glow, and she knew what was about to come. A shattering sound rumbled throughout the building. It assaulted their ears with a distorted bell toll, deeper than hell itself. A punishing beam of light crashed upon the cityscape, obliterating an entire block of buildings and everyone inside them. As the skyscrapers toppled to the ground, a shockwave of force rippled outwards towards them. John, a slave to his instinct, ran to Miranda, launched himself at her to protect her from the blast. Shards of glass clinked across the back of his armour, with only few travelling fast enough to be knocked away by his shielding. The moment the shards stopped falling, he took a look around. Bodies were stirring, and those that were unlucky enough laid lifelessly upon the floor, impaled by the shower of glass. To his right, the Admirals bench had been blown into the wall, no doubt crushing a few assistants under its weight. Under him, Miranda had laid a gentle hand upon his chest, looking up at him with her sparkling blue eyes. He had missed her so intensely that being this close to her had almost made him forget all the mayhem that surrounded him.

"Let's get out of here!" he yelled as Miranda got to her feet.

Without another word, they ran towards the door, tearing it open with their combined biotic might. The last dredges of personnel were running away from the antechamber, and into the open corridor ahead.

"This is one hell of a reunion, isn't it?" he joked as they ran, hand-in-hand down the hall.

"Couldn't agree with you more," she replied with a short smirk.

An alert buzzed from his omni-tool, and with a swift gesture, he answered it.

"Shepard!" said Dr. Janus's digitalised face. "You need to get onto the _Normandy, _and get the hell out of here!"

"There is no way I am going to leave Earth!" he barked as they neared the exit. "I've left too many people behind, and that ends now!"

"You are much too important to stay!" he debated. "You are the key to uniting the galaxy! You are the key to ending all this madness!"

At that very moment, by some cruel act of fate, they burst out of the SACJUSTICE building and into the world outside. Charred stumps were all that remained of the once towering buildings that constituted Seattle. Interceptors were whizzing by overhead, tailed dangerously by Occuli, and everywhere around him screaming citizens cowered in fear as the Reapers ravaged their world. John felt dizzy at the sight of it all, because despite how impossible it would be, he needed to put an end to all this.

"Dr. Janus is right, John," Miranda said. "We need to get you off of Earth, now!"

"Dammit," he grimaced. "Dammit!" he yelled into the commotion. "Alright, get Joker to fire up the engines and hone in on our position."

Another ear-splitting groan rumbled through the city as a Reaper fired off its main cannon. Below them, a full platoon of marines had begun to herd the civilians into evacuation shuttles. They were filled to capacity, and as much as he didn't want to believe it, they were doomed to be shot down the moment a Reaper caught sight of them. Two of the smaller Reapers were stomping through what used to be the central business district of the city, releasing pods into the streets. One crashed into the ground at the end of the promenade, sending a cloud of dust and rubble into the air. John's hairs perked up, sensing a threat about to emerge from whatever that pod was.

"Contact!" one of the marines shouted, firing his rifle directly into the dust.

A grotesque figure emerged from the haze, swelling with profane lumps, and squealing with a gaping, abhorrent mouth. Metal piping ran in and out of its skin, culminating into a weapon that seemed to be fused onto its arm. It lumbered towards them, weighed down by the bulbous growths that covered its body. A few more followed behind it, each one looking more wretched than the last. Shots flew into the group, landing direct hits on almost every one of them. One went down with a disgusting welch, another faltered as a shot grouping landed on one of its growths. The rest however, retaliated, discharging their weapons into the civilian crowd.

"You ready for this?" he asked Miranda.

"Do you even have to ask?" In a heartbeat, she began glowing with an indigo energy, swathing her face in a fatal light.

John un-holstered his sidearm, and with a nod of his head, they bolted down the stone steps at a deadly speed. He let off three shots, but only one found its mark, casting down one of the contacts with spurt of pale grey fluid. The civilian crowd had dispersed into the shuttles, leaving behind the bodies of those who were caught in the fire. Cover along the promenade was scarce, and bullets had already started to whizz dangerously close to his head.

"Miranda, we're going to need a barrier or else we'll get chewed up!" he said, mid run.

In compliance, she effortlessly spun up a biotic barrier, large enough to encapsulate them from the incoming fire. They bore down upon them, and they were close enough now to see the horror that spawned from their hellish skin.

Four dim lights marked their face, in a pattern that was hauntingly reminiscent of the four eyes that all batarians possessed. At this distance, John could see that their weapon arm was not just a series of tubes and wires. To his horror, he could see the faint shapes of human limbs cruelly mashed together to encapsulate the guns that were firing at them now.

"Once we get close enough, we need to take them out with hand-to-hand!" Miranda shouted.

"No problem!" he replied loudly.

Holstering his weapon, he fired up his own biotics, and activated his omni-blade. A powerful orange light was cast from the blade, clashing with the regal purple flame that was engulfing him.

Through the incoming hail of bullets, John spotted one of the abominations squatting over its fallen comrade. It was consuming it, ripping off its pale flesh with greedy hands and stuffing it unceremoniously down its throat. As it did so, bloody plates of chitin grew from its skin. The moment that it was completely covered, it turned its head, and let out a harsh, shrill scream, charging towards them as it did so.

"I've got the ugly one!" he yelled. "Push the field out, and kill them all!"

With one strong gesture, Miranda threw her biotic field out in all directions, pushing back the small group of Reapers, and disorienting them for a few seconds. The armoured one was in mid-air when she threw the field, and by the work of physics, was thrown back down towards its landing pod. John spawned a wave of energy, knocking aside the few Reapers that stood in his path. They flew aside, only to be taken out by Miranda's perfect biotic pulses. The armoured creature was already on its feet, its mouth wide open in a guttural roar. With a stutter of biotic energy, John leapt in the air, and sprung his blade-arm back, aiming for the creature's mouth. As he had expected, the blow missed, grazing a plate of its chitin. His boots thumped against the concrete as he landed, and by the skin of his teeth, he managed to dodge a stray swipe that was aimed at his head. Another swipe came at him, this time with the creature's gun arm, and John caught it with his free hand. He lopped it off with one fell swoop of his omni-blade, brought his arm back, and thrust it deep into the creature's belly. A cold, viscous liquid ran down his arm, and as the creature gave its last yelp, he kicked him off.

"John, look out!" he heard Miranda yell.

A lone creature was training its gun on him, but before he could get a field up, a sharp crack of fire took its life.

He followed the slug's gas trail back to its owner, and spotted the distinct ponytail of Staff Lieutenant Ashley Williams behind the barrel of a Mantis rifle.

"I think we're even now, Commander," she smirked through the comms.

"Where the hell have you been?" he exclaimed.

"We stopped to help Admiral Hackett get to his shuttle," she explained.

"Then where the hell is James?" he asked.

Answering his question, a deep battle cry emanated from down the promenade. James was charging the last few remnants of the ground forces, levelling his shotgun, and blasting two of the remaining three Reapers away. Miranda already had the last creature trapped in a stasis field, and with a flick of her wrist, it was torn into shreds.

A tiny flicker of hope rose within him, stemming from the small victory they just had just won, but as soon as he took a look around him, it was stamped out. More and more Reaper ships had begun to descend from the sky, unleashing beams of red-hot energy into the city. Those on the ground had already trained their cannons towards the escape shuttles lifting off not fifty meters away from him. As they took to the sky, a part of him hoped that the Reapers had souls; that they would understand that these were just innocent people, clinging to their lives and each other. But when he saw a thick beam of light tear through the shuttles like a razor-edged knife, the hope was smothered as quick as it appeared.

"_Normandy _to Commander Shepard, I repeat, this is the _Normandy_ hailing Commander Shepard," said a familiar voice in his ear. "Commander, do you read?"

"Joker! Never thought I'd be glad to hear your voice again," John replied.

"Yeah well, you're gonna get sick of it pretty soon, Commander," he quipped. "We have a lock on your position, and we'll be there for dust-off in 30 seconds. _Normandy _out."

John literally counted down the seconds till he could see his own ship. The _Normandy _was a sight for his sore eyes. Its hull had been spruced up with Alliance colours, making him leap with pride.

James, Ashley, and Miranda had already come to his side, and they all squinted as the ship's engines threw up gales of wind in their faces. With a hiss, the hangar bay ramp lowered, hitting the pavement with a loud clunk. They all rushed aboard, acknowledging that every second wasted, was another second that the Reapers could use to destroy them.

"Joker, we're aboard. Spin up the stealth drive, and get us out of the system", he ordered sharply over the comms.

"Roger that, Commander. Spinning up stealth drive, and setting a course for the relay."

"Wait, we're just leaving?" James asked him in disbelief as the hangar doors closed.

"Lieutenant, there is nothing we can do here," Ashley cut in. "We got hit by surprise. We have to regroup just so we can goddamn _breathe_." Her resolve was stern, and John expected nothing less than that.

"I agree with Ashley," Miranda added. "They caught us off guard. It'd be foolish to try and fight off the Reapers now."

"Hey, screw you lady! I don't even know who the hell you are!" James burst in reply.

"You stow it, Lieutenant!" Ashley admonished him. "Ms. Lawson is the entire reason the Commander is alive. He respects her, so that means you do too!"

"That still doesn't change the fact that we're going to leave almost 8 billion people behind to get slaughtered by Reapers!"

"No," John said sternly. "We're not going to leave them. We're going to go out there, we're going to get every single goddamn ship, gun, and soldier we can find, and we come back." James' mouth was held shut in respect. "We're not going to leave these people behind, James. We're going return, and we're going to take Earth back."

The group stood quiet, so that only the rumble of the atmosphere outside could be heard. For a brief moment, John snuck a glance at Miranda, and he could see the intense level of admiration that she held for him. A minute smirk had crept onto her lips, and the way her body was facing him told him that she was proud of John for how he wanted to approach it. It warmed his heart, and yet, he could still feel a small chill run through him. For it was one thing to say they'd return, but another thing altogether to follow through with it.

* * *

A few short moments later, Miranda and John found themselves stepping off of the elevator and into the CIC. Both James and Ashley had gone into the mess to rejuvenate themselves, leaving the two of them alone in a ship full of people. When he stepped into the CIC, John immediately recognised what had changed in the last few months. Gone were the sleek Cerberus interior designs. What remained could only be described as brutally austere.

Tubes of wiring clung to the bulkheads, running like vines along the sides of the deck. Where the old orange-trimmed black uniforms ambled about, blurs of dedicated, trained navy blue Alliance officers took their place. There was no doubt in John's mind that this wasn't a military vessel, and he found that absolutely perfect.

"Wow, they really did a number on the _Normand_y", Miranda remarked.

"And I'm thankful for it," John added. "The less of Cerberus I have to see, the better."

As a subtle gesture of affection, Miranda shuffled closer, gently leaning into his shoulder.

"You and I both."

It was a pleasant sight to see Alliance uniforms running the ship. With Cerberus, he could never fully rely on the crew to get the job done to his standards, but now that was all history. This crew was exactly what he needed to get through this new war. All he needed now was an objective.

At that second, the rumbling outside the ship stopped, signalling their exit from Earth's atmosphere. They had made it off the planet in one piece, and now they just needed to get to the relay in the same way.

"Oh, dammit, how could I forget?" Miranda exclaimed all of a sudden. Without explanation, she stormed off towards the bridge.

"What is it?" John asked her as he trailed behind her. He'd seen her worked up before, but there was something in her stepped that screamed to John that this was entirely urgent.

Stuck in her task, Miranda didn't utter a single word until they had reached the bridge.

"EDI, I need to get a location on a turian vessel named the _Obstinate_," Miranda ordered, breaking her self-inflicted silence.

"Very well, Miss Lawson," EDI complied.

"Whoa! Shepard, I didn't know you two were there!" Joker jumped up, aggravating his Vrolik syndrome.

"Stow it, Joker," John snapped. "Just get us to the relay."

"Scans show that the ship known as the _Obstinate_ was destroyed by the Reaper vanguard," reported EDI. Miranda's expression dropped into grief. "However, scanners are also picking up lifeboats with signals broadcasting the ship's recognition code."

Miranda's head rose, a hopeful look dawning upon her face.

"Are any in range of our high-end scanners?"

"Three, Miss Lawson," EDI complied.

"Scan for one containing a turian, a quarian, a human, and a krogan."

John's curiosity piqued at the mention of her request.

"Miranda, what's going on?" he asked her with deep concern.

"The _Obstinate _was Garrus's ship," she explained briefly. "There's no doubt that Tali, Jack, and Grunt would be with him too."

"Results correlate with the criteria provided," EDI reported again. "The lifeboat in question contains life signatures matching those of a single turian, quarian, human, and krogan. It is currently twenty thousand kilometres off our bow. Be advised, the lifeboat has strayed dangerously close to Mars' gravitational field, and is likely to crash-land somewhere within the Oxia Palus quadrangle."

John shot forward, approaching EDI's holographic interface.

"EDI, what is the situation on the Reaper strike force?"

"The majority of the force remains on Earth, or in its orbit. However, a few have made landings on the surface of Mars, including the Reaper vessel known as Harbinger."

"He knows I'm coming," John mumbled darkly.

"There is no way this isn't a trap," Miranda cursed to herself.

"We need to get them out of there," John argued. "If that is Garrus, then I owe it to him to save his ass!"

"John, I never said we weren't going to go in there and save him," she snapped back. "You're not the only one that owes their life to Garrus."

A curious question rose within him, only to be suppressed by the task at hand.

"EDI, are there any Alliance outposts functional in the vicinity of their possible crash site?" John asked after he let out a deep sigh.

"None, Commander," EDI replied. "All outposts have either been neutralised, or failing to respond to our outgoing hails."

"Saddle up a response team," John ordered. "I want Ashley and James geared up and ready to go."

"I'm coming with you, John," Miranda said resolutely.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he smirked.

* * *

The landing shuttle rumbled dangerously through the Mars atmosphere, tossing about its live cargo like a salad before a meal. John had a hand gripped tightly around an overhanging support bar, prepping himself for what was to come.

He didn't like it, but for the past few months, he had been kept out of combat. Not by choice, or by order, but because the facility back on Ontaheter gave him no chance to exercise his skill. Had it not been former members of his crew that he was saving, he might've been able to enjoy every moment of this mission. But they were his crewmates, and he owed them every last bit of his life to get them out of there alive.

"Shepard," EDI's voice came through a nearby console. "Their life-pod has made a crash landing 5 kilometres out from its estimated target. Be advised that the Reaper force on Mars is now en-route to the crash site. Haste is recommended."

Flight Lieutenant Steve Cortez called out from the cock-pit, "ETA in 2 minutes, Commander. You better prep for landing!"

Over the howling winds outside, the sounds of weapons whirring and clicking began to fill the small cabin. Miranda was sitting down, sighting her SMG, and checking the thermal sink. It felt right to have her by his side again, like she had filled the void that she herself left behind that fateful day on the Citadel. He didn't know what it was like to fight without her, seeing as his security detail was so uneventful, but he was glad to have her here now. That's all that mattered.

"Helmets on!" John ordered Ashley, James, and Miranda.

Pressurising hisses rang through the shuttle, and as he breathed in his first gasp of cold, treated air from his body-suit, he felt ready. Loud clunks rocked his helmet as the cockpit hatches sealed Lieutenant Cortez into the cockpit.

"Approaching crash-site," Steve said through the comms.

The shuttle eased down onto the dusty red sand, kicking up clouds of dirt in every direction. With a hiss, the door swung open, exposing them to the brutal landscape of Mars. Small gusts of wind blew curls of dust into the air, rattling their helmets as tiny grains of sand impacted into their armour. In the distance, John could see a monstrous formation of sand filling the horizon. It meant two things; one, there was a sandstorm heading their way, and two, they had to get to the crash site fast.

"John, there's a storm coming our way," Miranda whispered on a personal comm channel.

"I know. We haven't got much time." He switched to the squad frequency. "Move out! We've got to get them off of this planet before the storm can rip us to shreds!"

Together, Ashley, James, Miranda, and he trudged through the violent red sand. In a few short moments, they had a visual on the crash site. The pod made it through the atmosphere with as much heat scarring as expected, sporting black streaks of charred metal along its hull. However, as John approached it, he felt an eerie shiver go up his spine. There was something about the pod that played havoc with his intuition.

"Everyone, stay frosty", he hushed.

James took up a position by the pod's main hatch, whilst John kept his gun trained at the hatch itself. Anxiety rose within him like lava building within a volcano. Why was he suddenly so cautious, when only a few minutes ago, he was raring to swoop in and save them? It was unsettling, to say the least. James could open the hatch, and inside could be the dead bodies of four people that he held near to his heart. They could be broken, and bruised, or even worse, they may have been torn to pieces by the Reapers.

The soldier within him fired up, looming over his anxiety, and crushing it down with an iron fist. A shaky calm washed over him, and with a nod of John's head, James opened the hatch.

It was empty.

_**Ah, it's actually relaxing to have this chapter finished. There are some big things coming, and I hope you stick around long enough to see them play out. As always, don't be shy, leave a short review, and if you have some ideas about Death-Defying, I'd be glad to work with you! **_


	11. XI

**Cerberus Frigate **_**Apollo**_**.**

**Mars.**

**10 minutes before the Reaper attack. **

"You're sure this is going to work?" Kaidan said with heavy doubt.

"The Illusive Man guaranteed me that the IFF tag would prove effective," Kai Leng stated plainly.

"Forgive me if I don't find those words comforting," he said in reply. "He hasn't exactly been himself lately."

Kai Leng, ever the zealot, shot him a piercing glare. Kaidan knew that, deep down inside of him, Kai knew that every word of that was true. Lately, The Illusive Man had cast himself head first into his research. For months, he was locked up in that glass aerie of his, fruitlessly combing over research that dated back to human eras that predated space travel. If it wasn't for O, Kaidan, and Kai, Cerberus would've crumbled to the ground months ago.

Averting his gaze, Kaidan took to inspecting his cybernetic arm, eyeing out the delicate servos and wires that ran through the metal like the blood vessels that were there once before. Every time, the mere sight of his arm would spark a fire within him, burning his heart with the searing flames of revenge. If it weren't for Shepard and his misplaced affection of Ashley, he would've still been whole. He would've still been human. From the moment he was rebuilt, he never hid his great hatred for him, even when he was presumed dead.

"Where's O?" Kaidan wondered aloud.

"In her quarters, probably communing with her goddesses", Kai answered with extreme derision.

"What's with the tone?" Kaidan asked.

"She practices Siari, Kaidan. A religion conjured up by Asari witches. There's no place for something like that in Cerberus."

Sensing an imminent minefield of religious debate, Kaidan averted his gaze, staring out into the black. Outside the metre-thick glass, Mars's red surface swelled into view like a child craving for attention. In the distance, Kaidan could faintly make out the rocky lump debris that was Phobos, one of Mars's moons. It tumbled around, a slave to the gravitational pull of the planet.

"LADAR contacts!" said one of the crew in alert. "Multiple unknown contacts moving from Charon relay."

"They're here," Kai Leng said to himself.

"I guess we're finally going to find out if the IFF tag works."

"Kaidan, love," said sultry voice from the back of the bridge. "Have a little faith."

O had finally graced the bridge with her presence, strutting onto the deck, clad in a modified Nemesis uniform. Her long, carmine hair flowed down the back of her plating, just barely concealing the Raptor sniper rifle that was collapsed upon her back.

"I'd prefer to put my faith into something that wasn't handed down to us by a crazed patriarch," Kaidan added.

"This will work", O reassured them. "The goddess will make it so."

He struggled to keep back a witty remark about her beliefs, but in the end, he kept it in.

For the next few moments, all eyes were on the holo-table, watching as the contacts moved slowly towards Earth. They all knew they were Reapers, but no one on the deck dared to say a word about it. Acknowledging their existence almost felt like acknowledging their own inevitable deaths.

"Weapons, spin up the main cannon," Kaidan ordered the technician. "If this goes to hell, at least we'll go down swinging."

A distant hum could be heard as power began diverting towards the main cannon, and yet, Kaidan's nerves were not calmed by its sound. There was still the off chance that they were going to be spotted, and that's what was getting to him.

"Bring up the forward cameras," O commanded.

"Of course, Miss Lawson," the lieutenant complied.

An unmistakeable amount of tension had just been added onto the pile. These next few seconds seemed to pan out for an age as the entire bridge waited for her next move. Without hesitation, O gave Kai Leng a nod of her head.

The lieutenant begged for her life, instantly regretting her mindless mistake, only to be cut off suddenly by a swift thrust of Kai's sword.

"A shame," O admitted. "She was such a lovely girl."

"They're in weapons range," Kai Leng alerted them, wiping his sword clean as if it were nothing.

"Are they making any target locks?" Kaidan asked in suspense.

"None, sir," said a shaky technician.

"They seem to be ignoring us…" O began.

"…or the IFF tag worked," Kai finished. "Sound the horn, get everyone to their stations," he ordered calmly.

A blaring siren rang throughout the ship, mustering the crew to their respective battle stations. The bridge began to swarm with motion, but Kaidan, Kai, and O stood stock still, watching the Reaper fleet drift by.

"Energy spikes!" a technician yelled over the commotion. "We've got energy spikes all over the Reaper fleet!"

"They're charging their weapons!" Kaidan said aloud. "Do we have a lock on our target?"

"Yes, sir, we have a full scanner lock on the _Obstinate_," the technician replied.

"Notify me the moment they jettison their life-pods," he ordered, already halfway to the bridge's hatch. "Get a full platoon of troops ready in the shuttles, and get the prototype down there too." He stomped out of the bridge, and muttered under his breath, "Shepard's mine."

* * *

John stood frozen in front of the lifepod's hatch, staring back at the gaping hole that lay in front of him. It taunted him with its emptiness, hanging his failure ahead of him, inanimately rubbing it in. He had failed them. He failed Grunt. He failed Jack. He failed Tali, but most of all, he failed Garrus, one of his closest friends. The thought of it beat at the insides of his skull, filling him with a mess of emotions that he couldn't decipher. Slowly, the beating grew intensely, until it began to drum mercilessly at the insides of his skull, threatening to tear it to shreds at any given moment.

"John?" asked a concerned Miranda. "Are you alright?"

The pounding refused to let up, growing in severity until he began to buckle at the knees.

"John!" Miranda shrieked.

"Commander!" Ashley yelled, running over with James in tow to his aid.

A splitting headache had wracked his brain, aching to the point where a round of pistol whips would've a much more enjoyable experience.

"My head," he groaned, trying to shake it off. "It's…" Slowly, the pain started to subside, until the pain was just an echo in his mind. "…Aching," he mumbled in confusion.

"Are you alright?" Miranda asked, worried.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine now," he replied as he got to his feet.

"Our intel must've been off," Ashley thought aloud.

"It can't have been," he countered. "We tracked the pod before it even hit Mars' atmosphere."

He paced towards the gaping hatch once again, hoping to find even the slightest hint as to what was going on. Once again, he peered into the depths of the pod, scanning it from top to bottom. At the farthest corner of the pod, the burnt out husk of a stun grenade caught his eye. With a leap, he entered the pod, shifted down towards the grenade casing, and took it up in his hand.

"Commander, the storm's picking up," James yelled over the whistling winds. "What are our orders?"

"Find the nearest outpost," he answered, pulling looks of mild confusion from his team. "They were taken," he explained, jumping out of the pod.

"You've got that right."

On instinct, he pulled out his pistol, pointing it at the origin of the voice.

"…Kaidan?" he squinted, lowering his firearm.

"Surprised to see me alive, Commander?" he said huskily.

John could hardly believe his eyes. His former shipmate stood before him, back from the dead like a spirit sent to haunt him. Three Cerberus troopers flanked him, all training their rifles at them.

"You're with Cerberus?" Ashley burst out.

"Oh don't be so righteous, Ashley," he snapped back. "They did more for me than you two ever did. They saved me, patched me up," brandishing a mechanical arm for them to see. "All so I could come back and do to you what you did to me." His eyes glanced to John's right, seemingly eyeing Miranda out. "You… I know you," he thought aloud.

"Pharos," she sneered briefly.

"Oh right. You were with Garrus and Tali too, weren't you?" he said. "You should've seen the fight Garrus put up, Shepard. Stunned all to hell and he still tried to escape. He was nothing compared to that bald biotic girl though. Took three of my men out before we got her down. More fight in her than a damn Krogan," he joked darkly. "Did I mention I had the Krogan too? And Tali too, obviously." He grinned mischievously under his helmet. "But you already knew that."

"What do you want, Kaidan?" John demanded, thrusting his gun in the air towards him.

"I want you dead, but right now, I can't kill you," he complied. "The Illusive Man wants to take you in."

"And you took the rest of them as a bargaining chip, no?" James added.

"So you're smarter than you look!" he jeered. "I couldn't tell if you had a brain under all that armour."

"Shut it," John snapped. "Why would I come along anyway?"

"If you do come along, quietly, I might add, everyone gets to walk away without a scratch."

"Yeah right," Ashley spat. "You'd kill us anyway. Besides, we wouldn't _let _you get away with Shepard."

"I could care less, the rest of you are expendable," he said. "I just want Shepard." With a jerk of his head, the troopers stepped forward, readying kill shots on Ashley, Miranda, and James.

But before either side could act, a shuddering boom rumbled over the howling winds. Their eyes flew to the sky, collectively cursing as they saw metal claws descending upon them.

"Goddammit! Get back to the outpost!" Kaidan yelled, already clambering over a nearby dune.

"Follow them!" he barked urgently, sprinting after Kaidan, and away from the descending Reaper.

They streaked over the dunes, glancing frantically over their shoulders to see if the Reaper had made landfall. In a blur, the red dunes morphed into a series of rocky clusters, separated by random chasms. They leaped fearlessly from platform to platform, tailing Kaidan and his detachment of troopers.

"Heads up!" James shouted.

Behind them, the Reaper touched ground, scanning the surface. Gales of wind whipped against their plating as they sprinted into the wind. The troopers tried to shake them off of their tail, letting off streaks of inaccurate gunfire towards them.

Soon enough, Kaidan led them to a seemingly deserted Alliance outpost. Its monstrous doors were hewn into the dusty red face of a towering rock cluster. John could just make out the light of Kaidan's omni-tool as he unlocked the door.

"Shoot them down!" John ordered, opening fire upon Kaidan and his detachment of troopers, hoping that he could stop him from locking them out.

They all opened fire, just barely missing them, but in a desperate rush to clear the path, John tore a grenade from his belt, primed it and threw it at them. An eezo field erupted from the grenade casing, sending their ranks flying weightlessly into the air, and making them slaves to the gusting winds.

"He's not dead yet, John," Miranda told him as they stepped into the outpost.

"Yeah, I noticed," he replied sharply. "Ashley, get these doors closed."

"Uh, hello? There's a Reaper out there? That door ain't gonna hold it back," James pointed out.

"Then we better get going," John rationalised. He searched what seemed to be the outpost's garage for an exit. Over a parked Mako, he made out the top frame of a door. "James, take point, Ash, watch our six. The quicker we find them, the quicker we can _try _to outrun that damned Reaper."

"John, shh!" Miranda suddenly burst, craning her neck towards the door. "Get to cover," she hushed, drawing her gun and crouching behind a pile of crates.

Without a second thought, the three of them darted to cover, preparing themselves for what was coming for them.

The doors hissed open, and the distinct clanking of Cerberus boots rang throughout the garage. John glanced around, taking note of all of their firing positions. No doubt the troops would spread out, catching them in a deadly crossfire if he didn't fire at them first.

"Spread out," one trooper buzzed, realising that something was off.

He took a look at Miranda, who gave him a short nod. Ashley and James, who were out of sight, sent two bursts of comm-static to him, signalling that they were ready for the fight. He held three fingers out to Miranda, giving her a silent countdown.

On zero, they both popped out of cover, letting loose bursts of controlled fire at the closest targets. Almost instantly, Ashley and James joined in, taking out the two troopers converging on their flanks. John hit the thermal clip release and felt the heat of the clip whip past his cheek as it ejected. He took a peek out of his cover, and spotted an ideal piece of cover that he could unleash hell from.

"Miranda, cover me!" he buzzed through the comms.

After a moment's wait, he busted out of his cover, firing off wild shots at any trooper that dared to poke their head out. Almost diving at it, he ducked behind the stack of crates that put him on the remaining troopers' flank. John smiled to himself when he saw how they were lined up in front of him, just encouraging him to launch a biotic shockwave into their ranks. He fired up, encasing himself in deep, dark purple haze, and with one controlled sweep of his hand, he spawned a devastating wave of biotic pulses into their ranks. The pulses threw them asunder, crushing their bodies into the wall, splattering it with their blood.

Miranda looked at him, absolutely gobsmacked at his show of biotic ability. She had seen him in battle a thousand times before, but never had she seen him execute a move of such extreme prowess. In fact, she had never seen _anyone_ do it. Hazardous orange scars had zigzagged themselves across his face, disappearing into his skin the moment John relaxed himself.

"My God, John…" she began.

"Not now Miranda, we've got to move," he said in a hurry as he ran towards the door.

"Goddammit John! Your scars, they came back!" she shrieked at him.

For a moment, his lips were held apart in disbelief, but he shook himself out of it.

"We'll talk about it later," he said, partly in shock, as he carried himself towards the only door out of there.

They combed through the outpost, silently moving towards the central security centre. There was no doubt that the remaining Cerberus presence was there, along with Garrus and the others. The four of them swept through the halls, passing countless dead Alliance personnel, snatching their dog tags as they did so.

John's ears were perked up, wary of any sound that didn't come from them. They were just around the corner from the security centre when he heard a crackled helmet speaker.

"Dose the krogan again. Apparently he broke out of the prototype containment cube the spooks made for him back on Pharos," one trooper commanded the other.

"What about the human girl?" another asked. "Alenko said to watch out for her biotics."

"Fine, her too. Not too much," he warned the other. "They're no use to us dead."

All he needed to give to his team was a short nod, and they stepped out with him, training their guns straight at the troopers. Four gunshots rang through the room, and three bodies thumped to the floor. It took less than a second, but it was all over.

John holstered his rifle and ran to Garrus, crouching in front of his slumped, unconscious body. He showed no signs of returning to consciousness, and on an instinct, he went to his omni-tool to activate the medi-gel dispensers in his suit.

"That won't work," Miranda added, as she looked Jack over for any wounds.

"Well, we need to get them up!" he burst.

"Tali's going to need a doctor," Ashley reported. "Her suit's chem scrubbers aren't enough to get the sedative out of her system."

"Look, we're going to need to give them a sudden jolt of some sorts, shock their bodies back into action," Miranda thought aloud. "Wait!" she cried out as she saw James ready to slap Grunt awake. "He'll be up soon, they didn't get a chance to dose him again."

John took Garrus by the collar of his chest plating, and slapped him repeatedly across his face until he woke. He awoke in a jolt, taking John slightly by surprise.

"Shepard…" he said in his gravelly accent. "What're you doing here? Last thing I remember was my ship getting blasted to hell, then the life pod, then… Cerberus."

"We tracked your pod down to Mars," he explained. "Looks like I saved your ass again, Vakarian," John smirked.

A roar erupted behind him as Grunt came to. James flew back, appropriately fearing for his life.

"Miranda," he growled. "And Shepard, too," he grunted as they glanced at one another.

"Fucking Cerberus assholes…" Jack mumbled as she slowly awoke. "Gave me a goddamn double dose."

"Ash, you've got Tali?" he asked her.

"Uh," she groaned as she lofted Tali's body up. "Yeah, I think I got her."

"You good Garrus?" John asked, as he helped Garrus to his feet.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be good," he said shakily. "Where are we headed now?"

"Off this damn planet," he answered sharply. "Joker, come in Joker."

_"Comm-kzzt-der, you're bare-kzzt-coming through!" _buzzed his comm piece.

"I'm sending you our co-ordinates!" he yelled into his mic, booting his omni-tool.

_"Co-ordi-bzzt-received, Commander! Coming in fo-kzzt-ickup!"_

A tiny part of him relaxed when he heard the fuzzy reply come through. By now, the _Normandy _would be zipping down through the atmosphere, whirring as its stealth drive kept it from enemy scanners.

"Let's move people! We've got a ship to catch!"

The _Normandy _dusted them off, stealthily grabbing them and flying off world while the Reapers descended onto Mars. The feel of his ship rumbling underneath his boots welcomed him back, and for the first time since his brush with death in the Voyager cluster, he had some down time. He ordered Joker to get them to the Citadel, just to take port, and take stock of what lay ahead of him.

Of course, the first thing he made sure of was Tali's health. Fortunately, the _Normandy_'s retrofits at the hands of the RDA meant a fully stocked med-bay, among a few other additions he'd yet to encounter. After that, he retreated back to his cabin, relieved that he could catch a few winks.

He undid his armour straps, and stowed the plates inside his locker. Just as he donned a freshly pressed Alliance uniform, EDI came on over the cabin's PA.

"Shepard, Staff Lieutenant Williams is asking permission to enter your cabin," said her eerie voice.

"Granted."

The doors parted for Ashley, who stepped into his cabin, still clad in her gear.

"Ashley, I thought you'd be in your fancy new XO's office," he greeted her.

"My office?" she said in confusion. However, it seemed she had come to him with a matter that was much more important than her newly earned promotion. She swatted it aside mentally and proceeded with what was on her mind. "Commander, I think I owe you an explanation," she began.

"For what happened on the _Ironclad?_" he guessed.

"Yeah." Her lips were pursed as she wrung her hands gently. "You were pretty pissed when we had to get you out of there. You should at least know why."

"The RDA doesn't want me dead," he assumed, taking a seat. "It's not that hard to figure out."

"It's not as simple as that, Commander," she added. Her lips started to move several times, but no words came from them. She took a simple breath, and finally got around to it. "To them, you're… special. You've got that Prothean cipher in your head, you've spoken to a Reaper, not to mention saving humanity and the rest of the galaxy… twice."

"Yeah, well, _you_ would've had that cipher in your head if hadn't thrown you out of the way," he smiled nostalgically.

"Shepard, the bottom line is, you survive. No matter what it takes, you need to stay alive," she said sternly.

The words hit him like a charging krogan. He could read between the lines; he knew what she meant. If he were in a fatal situation, she'd take the bullet just so he'd live.

"I guess I'm finally getting the treatment I deserve," he joked darkly. "I just never thought it'd be like this."

"You weren't supposed to know," she said, much more softly now. "Something like this wasn't going to stay in the dark for long thought."

"It's good you told me," he reassured her. "After all, you're going to be my XO, so I'm going to need to trust you."

"You were serious about that?"

"Why so surprised?" he chuckled.

"Given your relationship with Miranda, I just thought you'd make her the XO," she explained.

"Ash, the _Normandy_'s an Alliance vessel again. I can't make a civilian an XO. As much as that civilian could kick my ass."

"Okay then, I'll… uh… move my things into the office," she said as she backed off towards the door, slightly overwhelmed by the position.

"What things?" he joked. "We barely got out of Voyager by the skin of our teeth," he laughed.

All of a sudden, his head grew dark. His thoughts were clouded; trapping him in a haze of grief for the ones he left behind. Three ships worth of people, all gone, because the RDA had deemed him _important_. It sickened him to his stomach that he had run off like that, again. His past mistakes just seemed to keep haunting him. In fact, the moment he saw Kaidan on Mars, his mistakes began to feel like they _were literally _haunting him. His two mismatched eyes still peered at him now, glowing with a burning anger for forsaking him on Virmire. They burned with the fire of the souls of Aratoht, and with the souls aboard the _Ironclad, Thermopylae, _and the _Finesse. _

"Commander," EDI rang over the PA, bringing him out of his emotional spiral. "Miss Lawson is requesting entry to your cabin."

"Granted," he said almost immediately.

He stood to his feet to meet Miranda as she came through the door, lugging along a full footlocker of possessions.

"I'm so sorry about this," she apologised suddenly.

"For what? You're not leaving again, are you?" he said, with mild worry.

"Quite the contrary, actually. I need a place to bunk," she said after mild deliberation. "Ashley took my old office, and the crew's quarters are all filled up."

"So you want to bunk with me?" he asked.

"Only if you want me to," she added hastily. "This will obviously move our relationship forward at a speed much more comfortable than we'd like…"

"…Miranda, relax." He placed two comforting hands at her arms, stepping forward. "With everything that's in front of us, moving too fast is the last thing I'm worried about."

She said nothing, instead nodding her appreciation, and meeting his gaze. It was enough for him. Nothing empowered him more than her eyes. They held all the fire and power that she possessed, yet somehow also a layer of easy calm that he could retreat into. Simply put, John revelled in her.

Without thinking, John took her footlocker and slid it under the bed, right next to his. Once he turned around however, Miranda was tapping away at her omni-tool with a furrowed brow.

"Hold still," she said, sweeping her hand over his frame in a smooth motion.

"Already?" he said jokingly. "It's only been half a minute, and you already want to body scan me?"

"You shouldn't have been able to do what you did on Mars." Her face was furrowed with worry. "A biotic with an L3 implant can't even pull off a shockwave of that magnitude without a crushing headache straight after."

"Why do you have to treat this like a bad thing?" he reasoned.

"Because, John, I put your body back together. I know all your strengths and limitations, and trust me, a biotic pulse capable of 1000 Newtons is _not _one of your strengths." She delved into the results, interpreting the data and cross-referencing it with her records on the Lazarus Project. "Your scarring came back too, and you had that headache outside the life-pod…" He took a glance at the information she had up on her tool, but as he expected, he couldn't make a word out of it. "I just want to make sure you're okay," she said finally, glancing back at him with a brief, reluctant smile.

"And? What's it say?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing," she said after a moment of intense thought. Her shapely lips let out a frustrated sigh. "It says here that your implants are all functioning to capacity. Not a single thing that's out of the blue."

"You obviously don't believe that though," he guessed.

"No, I don't," she affirmed. "First thing when we get to the Citadel," she began to say as she turned on him. "We're bringing you to Liara and she'll have people run tests on you."

"If it'll calm you down, then I'll get the tests done," he agreed. "But I'm sure Liara's going to be too busy for it…"

* * *

Liara stood over the holo-desk, fruitlessly eyeing out the revolving schematic that lay in front of her. Of all the Prothean artefacts she'd uncovered, none had given her as much grief as this.

"Dr. T'Soni," her VI assistant, Glyph cried out. "It has been approximately 8.43 hours since you last had a break. If you don't take one soon, you may start to feel ill."

"Glyph, cross-reference this schematic with all known ordinance within Council, and non-Council systems."

It had been the fifth time she ran that cross-reference in the past three hours. It was futile, she knew, but it was the only thing she could think of doing.

"No matches, Dr. T'Soni."

"What are you hiding?" she said, frustrated.

She looked over the schematic again, tasking her overworked eyes to pick out the tiniest details that she may have missed. In all honesty, there wasn't a thing that she could make from it. The artefact was a simple box, no more than a metre long, and two metres wide. Distinct Prothean embellishment marked the box, highlighting it with a cool, green light. Nothing about the artefact itself was outstanding. The chamber it was found in, however, was a different story. Defence systems that were as old as the artefact surrounded the chamber, while the paths to it were riddled with traps and false passages. No Prothean artefact had cost her as much trouble as this did, and when she finally navigated her way safely to it, it refused to budge. All she could take from it was this lousy schematic and its mysterious name.

The Crux.

* * *

_**I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it out! :) Please, don't be afraid to leave a review, even if you've just picked this up from the start, or if you've been following it from its conception. Actually, if you've JUST picked this up from the start, please tell me how well (or how poorly) the chapters flow together. I've always had a feeling that it didn't flow…**_


	12. XII

An insistent beeping sound awoke John from a short, but refreshing slumber. Miranda, without a bed of her own to sleep in, was curled up in his arms, clad in just her catsuit. His bedside alarm was still going off, and kept blaring until he hit a random target across the cabin with a toy gun.

"That gets less fun every time," he mumbled as his head fell back towards the pillow.

"Commander," Joker said over the intercom. "We're approaching the Citadel, just giving you a heads up."

"Ugh, what's happening?" Miranda grumbled as she woke.

"We're about to hit the Citadel," he told her. "Stay in bed," he said softly as he kissed her forehead.

"Yeah right," she yawned. "And leave you to get tested on your own?"

"I said I was going to get looked at already," he reminded her as he begun to clean himself up in the bathroom. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to get it done," he said plainly.

"I'm still coming with you," she told him in passing as he vacated the bathroom.

"You'd probably have to anyway," he announced over the sound of running water. "Nathan just sent you, me, Ashley, Garrus, and Tali a message telling us to meet with Liara," he added as he flicked through his messages at his private terminal.

"Did he say what it's about?" she asked after she spat out her toothpaste.

"He didn't," he answered her. "It's marked as urgent though."

"It's best we get down there quickly then."

John announced a brief shore leave for the crew just before they stepped out of his cabin, and into the elevator. Garrus and Ashley were already waiting for them at the airlock, staring out of the forward viewports. Joker was gliding them towards what seemed to be Shalta Ward. If he peered just enough over their heads, John could see the skyscrapers rising up to meet them like a forest of glistening trees.

"How's Tali?" he asked Garrus the second they turned to greet them.

"She's getting better," he told him, easing his tensions. "I contacted Dr. Chakwas as soon as I got her in the med-bay. She seemed pretty eager to get back onto the _Normandy_ when she replied," Garrus chuckled lightly.

"At least she'll be in good hands," John nodded.

"Any idea what's so urgent about this meeting we're being summoned to?" Ashley asked him directly.

"You've got as much of an idea as I do, Williams," he replied.

"If anything, it's probably about what's the plan now that the Reapers have hit Earth," Miranda speculated.

Ashley just nodded her comment away, almost as if she thought it had no credit. Needless to say, it struck John as odd. He was sure it was just a simple, meaningless gesture, but there was something in the way that she dismissed it so easily that made him curious.

"Approaching the docking cradle now, Commander," Joker called back towards them.

The approach was smooth, which was in no small part accredited to Joker's fine hand. He always loved to bring a ship in to dock manually, revelling in the challenge it brought compared to just sitting by and letting a VI, or in this case, an AI, dock it for him. They could hear the docking tube crank and whirr as it attached itself to the hull with a thump. After a few seconds, a green indicator light came on, and they all stepped off the _Normandy_.

"I'll go find us a car," Ashley said as she went on ahead.

The change in scenery was the first thing that struck him. John had come from a scene filled with destruction and chaos, but here, everyone still went about their lives like the Reapers weren't inching menacingly towards them. It all seemed… quaint.

"It's odd seeing this, isn't it?" Garrus remarked when he came to John's side. "Look at that," he said, pointing at two parents struggling to stop their children from clambering all over their luggage. "Earth's being razed to the ground, and they're acting like this is the hardest thing that'll happen to them this week."

"It won't be much better if we told them what was coming," Miranda said as she stepped into the conversation. "If ignorance saves me from quelling an entire population of panicked citizens, I'd go with ignorance."

"That's why it's up to people like us to deal with it while we still can," John said stoically.

Ashley reappeared from a security checkpoint, and made her way straight towards them.

"We've got a car, let's go."

She led them to a turian clerk standing in front of a parked skycar. It was quite obvious to John that Liara had arranged for all of this.

"Stand very still please," the turian requested as they approached her.

One by one, she ran her omni-tool over their frames. The process lasted no more than a minute, and soon after, they were on their way.

The car swerved into Shalta Ward's most prestigious blocks, with names like Roskenkov, and Hahne-Kedar adorning the buildings as they zipped by them. The car slowed as it carved a landing path in front of a modestly sized tower, manoeuvring carefully into its underground garage. Before they could get out, a voice came from the car's main console.

"Please remain seated," the voice said calmly. "Your car is being scanned for security purposes."

"Spirits," Garrus moaned. "When did Liara become this paranoid?"

"Well, she is the Shadow Broker," Ashley commented. "I'm sure caution comes with the job."

"Please exit the vehicle," the voice said.

Not far from where they were parked, an elevator lay open, waiting for them to step inside. The moment they were all on, the doors closed, and it carried them upwards into the higher levels of the tower. It only took it a few moments to reach their destination. They stepped out into the foyer, met by the broken sickle and shield of the RDA, and an old friend of theirs.

"Mordin?" John said in surprise.

"Pleasure to see you again, Shepard," Mordin said in his patented rushed accent.

"They picked you up too, huh?" Garrus said.

"They did. Needed me to reverse engineer the Genophage," he replied. "Joined as soon as they offered. Had to be me. Someone else might've got it wrong." He smirked briefly, allowing himself this one moment of overconfidence. "Dr. T'Soni is waiting for you in briefing room," he said. "Brilliant mind, work unparalleled in her field."

He led them to the briefing room, where they found her cycling through images of what appeared to be an old Prothean dig site. Exhaustion clung onto her, weighing her down so terribly that she seemed ready to drop to the ground at any moment.

"Dr. T'Soni," Mordin spoke up. "They have arrived."

"Shepard!" she said in tired delight. "It is good to see you again."

"And you too, Liara."

"Garrus, Ashley, Miranda," she nodded at them. "It's always a pleasure to see you all as well."

"You look worn out," Garrus mentioned. "Are you sure this briefing is urgent?"

"Briefing?" she blinked. "Oh! Of course, the briefing."

A greater sense of unease erupted within John; Liara was clearly overworked.

"Liara, we can come back later on if you need a rest," Ashley offered her.

"No no, this is much too important," she denied her, pacing towards the revolving schematic.

Reluctantly, they joined her at the holo-table, paying more attention to her than what she was briefing them on.

"I came across this in my research," she began to explain. "We tried to look more closely at the last acts of the Protheans; their technology, their military, anything that we could glimpse from artefacts and knowledge that we've gained." A newfound energy filled her eyes as she elaborated on her work. "It lead me to the acts of the Dozen."

"Who were the Dozen?" John asked her.

"The Dozen were a group of Prothean scientists left behind after the Reaper attack wiped out the rest of their race," Miranda answered, much to the surprise of the remainder of the group.

"You read my journals, I see," Liara nodded to her appreciatively. "The Dozen were responsible for the great finds that our races: the asari and the humans, discovered that allowed us to skip a generation or two in scientific advancement."

"Protheans deemed your races adequate candidates for their replacement," Mordin jumped in. "Likely that you would still be researching FTL travel had they not left archives."

"For a while, we stopped concerning ourselves with what they left behind. We were already satisfied; their knowledge of FTL and element zero had already given us more than enough to boost our races. But when I took another look at the archives left behind on Ilos, I discovered that the Dozen had left something else behind.

"The Crux," she told them as she gestured to the schematic in front of her. "All we know about it is that it's Prothean. Anything else is just purely speculation so far."

John heard Ashley asking for an explanation, but her answer came to him in a mumble of drowned out sound. All he could focus on was the artefact; its sharp edges, the lines of pale green light across its surface. He was drawn to its structure, cursing inwardly at the fact that he could only lay eyes upon it through this paltry hologram.

"Shepard," Liara called out to him. "Does that sound all right?"

"Does what sound alright?" he asked.

"I need you to take a team down to the artefact," she answered. "It doesn't budge, no matter how hard I try."

"Possible that Shepard's history with Prothean devices will help," Mordin added. "Could also be no less effective than Dr. T'Soni's efforts. No evidence to support either hypothesis." He inhaled sharply. "Problematic."

"I'll check it out," he nodded.

"Good," Liara nodded lightly. "Good," she repeated herself with a gentle yawn. "I'll forward you my…"

Her words trailed silently into the air as she slumped to the floor, succumbing to the sleep that she had so stubbornly resisted. Ashley and Garrus ran to her side, picking her up from the floor and carrying her between the pair of them.

"We'll uh, go put her in her office," Garrus said.

"Make sure she stays asleep for as long as she needs to," John half-ordered them. "She's bound to try-"

As sudden as rain, a throbbing pain tore through John's head. It lasted for a few moments, causing him to lean heavily against the holo-table.

"Dammit John," Miranda said to him as she came to his side. "It was another headache wasn't it?"

"Yeah…" he groaned, thankful that it had started to fade away.

"Mordin, we need to get him tested," Miranda said, carefully masking her worry for him. "His biotics seemed overcharged on our last mission," she explained. "He had one of these headaches before it as well."

"Say no more," he nodded. "Will set up downstairs lab to cater for human biotic examination."

Turning on his heel, he paced out of the briefing room, muttering a list of equipment to himself.

A few moments later, Mordin called them down into the labs. When they arrived, they saw him standing at a terminal placed behind a wavering kinetic barrier.

"Is headache gone?" he asked him. John simply nodded his answer. "Test requires you to take off your clothes. You as well, Miss Lawson."

"Excuse me?" Miranda said with predictable detest. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Test requires control specimen," he explained without flinching. "Your genetic engineering makes you perfect subject."

John had already begun disrobing as Miranda thought on it. Reluctantly, she unzipped the side of her catsuit, and stepped out of it. As soon as they were both standing in their undergarments, Mordin waved his omni-tool over their bodies, mapping out their eezo nodules. They could do nothing but stand idly as he placed a full set of diagnostic patches on their skin, thankful that nature had the decency not to place eezo nodules anywhere _uncomfortable_.

"Females first," Mordin said to Miranda politely, gesturing to the test area on the other side of the kinetic barrier. Mordin had placed a set of seemingly random objects upon a table in the test area: a datapad, a spanner, and a scaled down model of the _Normandy SR-1._

"First part of test relatively simple, use biotics to lift objects on table," he explained.

John watched intently as Miranda flared up, standing there in nothing but her underwear. With a practiced swoop of her hand, she effortlessly commanded a mass effect field around the datapad, allowing it to float into the air.

"Shepard, please relax self. Irregular heart rate and sudden hormone spike interrupting Miss Lawson's data," Mordin told him. He swore he could see Miranda smirk to herself when she heard it.

Mordin's terminal was cut into halves, with half of the screen taken up by a real-time diagnostic of active eezo nodules, and the other taken up by various graphs charting the neurochemical and synaptic activity of her body. John had no knowledgeable grasp on the specifics of human biotics, so the data made absolutely no sense to him.

"Good," Mordin nodded. "Now will introduce combat dummy," he told her, pressing a button. "Use push field, then follow up with warp field."

The dummy popped up from the floor, springing back and forth on its base. Wordlessly, she threw a ball of dark energy at the combat dummy. On contact, the dummy lurched backwards, only to spring back into position.

Her movements were so fluid, reflecting the genes that she so often cursed. He allowed himself to admire her glowing body, the shape of her legs, culminating into the boisterous curve of her behind. He could even spot the subtle bounce of her breasts as she moved her body to cast the fields.

"Shepard," Mordin glanced back at him in a warning tone.

He could see the data skew as his own diagnostics clashed with Miranda's.

"Sorry," he apologised. Staring intently at the ruined combat dummy.

"Results as expected," Mordin announced. "Synaptic impulses controlled, correct sequence of nodules fired. Amp may require upgrade, however." He tapped the results away, saving them onto a server. "May vacate testing area now."

Miranda wore a proud smile as she pranced back to John, swaying her hips as her biotics died down.

"No pressure, Shepard," she joked, already stepping back into her catsuit.

"Shepard, your turn," Mordin told him.

He passed through the kinetic barrier with a tingling sensation dancing over his skin. Half naked, he stood in front of the table, waiting for Mordin's go.

"No instructions needed, Shepard," Mordin said to him, nodding to urge him on.

He repeated all of Miranda's moves, lifting the _Normandy _model instead. Nothing out of the ordinary happened as he ran through the gauntlet. His lift field levitated the scale model without so much as a drop of sweat, and his warp field flayed the dummy so much that it looked like a colony of rats had nibbled away at it.

"Interesting," Mordin said to himself. "No anomalies detected." For a moment, he thought to himself, mumbling out his thought process. "Have hypothesis," he said. "Will introduce aggravating factor."

"Aggravating factor?" he asked him.

Suddenly, an orange orb was floating at his side. It was seemingly harmless, until it began to shock him.

"Same instructions," he told John. "Variables altered."

As the drone persistently threw minor bolts of electricity at him, he went on with the testing. He tried to drown out the annoyance, focusing his mind on getting the _Normandy _model up in the air. His arm was covered in a purple haze, but when he directed a lift field at the model, the _Normandy_ splintered and broke apart violently.

"What happened?" he could hear Miranda say.

"Not enough data to speculate," Mordin replied. "Shepard, continue with test."

At his say so, John directed a push field at the dummy. He could hear the hinge snap violently as the dummy was thrown into the wall, ripping into the next lab. Through the dust, he could see a pair of asari scientists staring at him with their jaws agape.

"That was definitely not normal," Miranda managed to say.

"Hypothesis supported," Mordin stated. "Shepard exhibited unstable biotic ability. Scarring returned, but only for brief moment." Predictably, Mordin took a sharp breath of air. "Will require more tests to get to bottom of issue," he elaborated. "Miranda, will need original data from Lazarus project to help with study."

Miranda hesitated at his request. That was something she kept very close to her chest. In fact, there was very little she didn't hold close to her chest. It took her a while to open up to John, and even then, there were still things about her that he was blind to. There was a genuine look of contemplation on her face, but when she took an inquisitive glance at John, she had made her decision.

"You had better get to the bottom of this," she warned him, initiating a data transfer from her omni-tool.

"Will not disappoint you," Mordin nodded appreciatively. He turned to the terminal to confirm the data dump, and started to browse all the available files. "Kept regular logs on Shepard's resurrection. Will be of great help."

"Shepard, are you feeling okay?" Miranda asked him as he passed through the kinetic barrier.

"I feel fine," he told her. "I just don't know how I did any of that."

"Neither do I," she replied, giving him a glance that lasted a second longer than she'd have liked.

"Have theory on issue," Mordin said. "Possible that work that Cerberus did on you has begun to unravel," he speculated.

"Not likely," Miranda scoffed. "I made sure that all modifications and implants would last him as long as they needed to."

"Only theory," Mordin clarified with his hands up in mock surrender. "Will need to conduct more tests on Shepard to reach true problem." He moved back to another nearby terminal. "Will notify you when free for testing," he told them. "Work on Genophage cure too important."

"No offence, Mordin, but why would _you _want a cure for the Genophage?" John asked him carefully as he buttoned up his uniform.

"You were the one that worked to ensure that it was _in_curable," Miranda added.

"Aware of past mistakes," Mordin replied. "But cure is necessary action, given current galactic circumstance," he answered them. "Reapers formidable opponent. Krogan give RDA fighting chance against them." His head stooped for a moment, hanging low in shame. "Yet to synthesise working cure. Need a live krogan with genetic resistance to Genophage. Maelon's data not enough."

"Why not ask Wrex?" he asked him. "We never know if one of Maelon's females escaped from the hospital."

"Last resort," he said in reply. "Most krogan still have strong hate for salarians. Likely to end in failure."

"I'll ask him for you," John offered.

At that moment, his omni-tool began to flash with a message.

"Will be grateful," Mordin nodded.

Giving him a nod in return, John opened up the alert.

"Seems like my presence wasn't kept a secret for long," John smirked when he read whom the message was from.

"What is it?" Miranda asked him.

"Anderson wants to see me in his office," he told her. "Mordin, pass on the message to Ashley and Garrus that we'll be in the Presidium."

Mordin simply nodded, and they showed themselves out.

It was a short ride to the Presidium ring from Shalta Ward, but it didn't stop John from worrying over his health. It hadn't been such a large matter for him the first time he was hit with a crushing migraine, but after the second one, the seeds of doubt had begun to sow themselves into his head. The strong fear of the Reapers kept him from dwelling too long on the matter. Whether or not he was in danger of dying was no matter to him anymore, because if he couldn't defeat the Reapers before they defeated the galaxy, he'd be dead anyway.

"Are you okay?" Miranda asked him, for the second time today. It seemed much more sincere than the first, and he knew it was only because they were alone.

"Just thinking," he answered.

She had placed a soft hand on his by now, comforting him despite the coldness of her skin. John appreciated the gesture, even one as simple as this. Miranda's life hadn't given her much room for endearing gestures, but she'd slowly begun to accommodate it, all for John.

"If there's anyone that can get to the bottom of this, its Mordin," she said.

"I know," he managed to say. "But I wasn't thinking about that."

"_Human Embassy,_" the skycar announced as they came to a stop.

They left it at that, instantly donning their respective ironclad expressions. Just as the car was about to open, he gave Miranda's hand a gentle squeeze. A smile tugged at the edges of her lips, but she only let it show for a moment. It was all he could ask for.

Whilst everywhere else on the Citadel was oblivious to what happened on Earth, the Human embassy was the only place where it started to show. Lines of distressed people stood outside the office, all worried about siblings, children, partners, parents, and friends that they've lost contact with.

"This is what every embassy on the Presidium's going to look like in a few weeks," John realised.

"Lightyears away and the Reapers are still terrorising people," she added. "Maybe it was a good idea to keep them a secret," she wondered aloud. "All this commotion, all this chaos? I can't blame the Council for denying the claims."

"Yeah, even I'm starting to see it," he admitted.

Across the crowded lobby, an Alliance officer waved their hand at them.

"Commander Shepard!" she yelled. "Over here!"

As they weaved through the crowd, he got looks of awe from the people around him. Whispers of great praise and grievous mistrust passed his ear. People hissed questions to one another, wondering who the raven-haired woman at his side was, and why they were here. It was this kind of fame that he never got used to, and that kind of infamy that he was going to have to live with.

"Commander," the officer sighed. "The Councillor's waiting for you."

There was a staircase leading up into the offices of the ambassadors, which was much more quieter than the lobby. Yet, the general bustle of the crowd downstairs could still be faintly heard.

Anderson's office was at the end of the hallway, and it was as grand as John had expected it to be. Full panel windows overlooking the Presidium gardens took up the entire length of one side of the room, and an oaken table stood just ahead of that. He knew it was a personal touch, considering that pure oaken tables were few and far between ever since 2112. Councillor Anderson loomed over the table, his tired eyes combing a datapad that was clutched in his hand.

"You're looking a little soft around the edges, Anderson," John opened, instantly catching the attention of his old friend.

"Not much room for keeping in shape when you're behind a desk all day," he smiled back. "How have you been, Shepard?" He offered a hand in greeting, one that John took with a firm grip.

"Getting by," he replied.

"Yeah, I saw the reports on Earth," he said solemnly. "It's a damn shame. We've been dreading this day for years." His eyes shifted to Miranda, "I've never had the pleasure. Admira- sorry, _Councillor_ David Anderson. Never got used to saying that.

"Miranda Lawson," she replied, taking his offered handshake.

"Lawson?" Anderson raised an eyebrow. "You helped Shepard take down the Collectors," he stated.

"Among other things," she smiled politely, scratching her neck as she did so.

"Glad you finally had the sense to leave Cerberus," he nodded. "We could use more people like you on our side."

"To be clear, Councillor, the only side I'm on is Shepard's," she said sternly, but not enough to come across as cold. Miranda always had a knack for politics.

"Aren't we all?" Anderson smirked. Clearly he had sharpened his political skills as well.

"So what brings me in here?" John asked him.

"Several matters. Udina should be joining us soon, but first," he said, pacing back towards his table. "Your official re-instatement."

"I thought the trial was just for show," Miranda said with a raised eyebrow.

"It was, but today the Alliance _officially_ reinstated the Commander following his _acquittal,_" he explained briefly. "It goes without saying that your Spectre status has also been updated. Not that you'd need it. I hear the RDA has some really top-of-the-line stuff."

A wave of relief passed through John. "Glad I didn't have to hide it from you, sir," John admitted.

"Pretty soon you won't have to hide it from anyone," he said, swatting it away. "I was a little sceptical at first, but when I saw the logs from the Voyager Relay, I was sold. Those Scythebreaker rounds are really something," he said.

"We lost some good men and women that day," John blinked, hiding his melancholy.

"And it's not going to get any better," he added. "Moving on," he announced, breaking the silence that followed his sentiment. "I've heard some-"

Anderson's door hissed open, allowing a rushed Ambassador Udina to storm into the office.

"Why wasn't I notified of Shepard's arrival?" he snapped at Anderson.

"With all due respect, Ambassador, I sent you a message the moment I called this meeting," he said calmly.

Udina fumed, but only for a moment. He knew his outrage would cause nothing but more outrage. If John could say anything nice about Udina, it would be about his intelligence.

"Yes, well," he said, in a proper tone. "Let's get to the matter at hand."

"Shepard, we've heard some disturbing reports," Anderson began. "About Kaidan Alenko."

Choler rose in his chest. His encounter with the metallic husk of his former crewmate back on Mars was scarring, to say the least. A man that he knew, that he fought with, and that he trusted was now working against him. Even through the ghastly implants, John could feel the hate that radiated from Kaidan's eyes.

"I don't know why they would do it," he wondered. "Kaidan died an honourable death. To bring him back just spits on that."

"Miss Lawson, you were with Cerberus for a while, any idea why they would do that?" Anderson asked her.

"_Lawson?_ You're Miranda Lawson?" Udina burst. "I should bring you in for crimes against the Alliance!" he admonished her.

"The work I did for Cerberus was to further humanity!" she rebuked him.

"Udina, lay off!" Anderson cut in. "She's cut all ties, and Shepard vouches for her."

"Why should I trust Shepard any more than I trust her?" he said with blatant disgust. "You're both Cerberus lackeys!"

"Enough!" Anderson boomed. "Ambassador," he said, reminding Udina of his position. "If you cannot hold yourself in a civil manner, I am going to have to ask you to leave my office."

"Say no more, _Councillor,_" Udina spat. "I'll leave."

The tension trailed at Udina's heel as he stormed out. Leaving Miranda, John, and Anderson to continue with the issue.

"Is he always like that?" Miranda asked the two of them.

"More or less," Anderson answered. "If I only could get rid of him that easily…" he wished. "Where were we?" he asked himself. "Kaidan, that's right. Miranda, why would they bring him back?"

"I wouldn't know, Councillor," she said. "If the Illusive Man planned for this, I wouldn't have known. Everything in Cerberus is compartmentalised."

"Damn," he swore. "It's a damn shame. He was such a good soldier. A talented biotic too."

"He's still out there," Miranda reminded them.

"No, Miranda," John said sternly. "Kaidan's dead, and he has been for three years now." Miranda and Anderson both gave him their undivided attention. "Whoever that… _thing_ was, it wasn't Kaidan. Not anymore."

* * *

A dusty red expanse swirled around him as he limped through the sandy waste. Reapers had already made planet fall, but for some reason, they had decided to leave him alone. They stomped around, harvesting everyone that was left. All the Alliance research personnel, all the colonists, everyone but him. Kaidan was left to trudge through the desert with a defective arm, and a sand blasted ocular implant. It was like hell on Mars.

The only thing that kept him upright was the image of Shepard kneeling at his feet, bloodied, bruised, and broken. There was nothing he wanted more for him than a slow, painful death, and if it meant that he needed to live through this, then live through this he would.

In the distance, cutting through the heavy clouds, was a shuttle. It flew right by a hulking Reaper like a fly left unnoticed, streaking down until it came for a landing several metres in front of him.

"You're a hard man to find," O said when the shuttle doors opened up. "Thank the goddess you're alive, Kaidan."

"Just get me off this damn planet," he groaned as he clambered onto the shuttle. "Any news of Shepard?" he asked her outright.

"He's on the Citadel with my _beloved _sister," she smirked as she took her breather helmet off. He couldn't see it before, but her eyes had an odd glow to them. It almost reminded him of the Illusive Man himself.

"On what business?" he asked as he inspected his arm.

"RDA probably. They were spotted in the Embassy too. Probably visiting the Councillor."

"Anderson," he grunted. The wiring had frayed so much that any attempt at fixing would cause more harm than good. "Damn," he hissed.

"We'll get you patched up," O told him. "You've got to look your best for the boss," she hinted.

"Don't tell me he's finally decided to leave his nest," he asked her.

"No, of course not," she scoffed. "He wants to see us," she admitted.

"What about? Some new blessing from the Reapers?" he said in disgust.

"You could say that," she answered, with the tiniest flicker of blue sparking in her eyes.

* * *

**_As always, leave a review, or comment, or just a general "Hey, that was pretty okay/shit/brilliant!" Either way, it helps me heaps. :)_**


	13. XIII

_**Refreshed from their brief time on the Citadel, John, Miranda, and the rest of the crew of the**_** Normandy _head towards Ilos to recover the Crux, a mysterious artefact that will hopefully turn the tides against the Reapers…_**

* * *

The doors hissed aside for him as John paced purposefully into the War Room. Most of his team were gathered there, taking up places in the central pit, or along the outer ring. Jack and Grunt were the only ones missing, staying back on the Citadel to take up assignments Liara had tasked them to. He noticed a drone hovering about, its bright orange face twisting and turning in an attempt to convey emotion. It didn't take him long to realise that it was one of Tali's, relaying whatever information was said down to her in the med-bay. Miranda stood with her back to John, her head peering over her shoulder as he entered. The briefest of smiles glanced her lips, before she returned her gaze to the holotable.

"What have we got, EDI?" he asked.

"According to Dr. T'Soni's data, the dig site is located thirty kilometres south-by-southeast of the main research base on Ilos," EDI said as the topographic map on the holotable spun to mirror her words. "The dig site is unprotected, aside from the small team of RDA agents that are guarding the entrance to the catacombs. The co-ordinates of the site are only known to that small team, Dr. T'Soni, and us."

Studying the map, John eyed out the approach to the central chamber. From the catacomb's entry, a passageway winded deep underground, until it came into an antechamber. Another passageway led out of the antechamber, and into the central chamber, marked by a pulsing green light.

"Looks like a cakewalk," James scoffed.

"I can assure you, it won't be," Miranda countered. "Liara barely managed to get out of the crypts alive," she explained. "Whoever the Dozen were, they went to a great deal of trouble to keep people out."

"As long as it's not as bad as the last time we were on Ilos," Ashley thought aloud. "Geth were crawling over the place, remember?" she said, turning to Garrus.

"I didn't go," Garrus said to her. "Wrex went down with you, remember? Shepard wanted him down there with him, even though he absolutely hated being in the Mako."

"The entire run isn't much bigger than the length of the _Normandy_," John speculated, ignoring their comments. "If the defences are still active, our armour will be able to take most of the hits."

"You could send in a drone to probe the chambers," Tali said as her drone projected her sentiment. "Just program it to seek out the defences and mark them with a tag."

"If you're even thinking of leaving that bed…" Garrus whispered to her drone.

"Garrus, relax. You don't need me down there to do that," she told him. "I could write up the code now and hand it over to Shepard before he leaves," she elaborated, before bursting into a mild coughing fit.

Nodding his approval, John spoke up into the intercom. "Joker, how much longer till we hit the Mu Relay?"

"About 30 minutes, Commander," he replied. "It's drifted a bit from when we used it last, but thanks to the good ol' RDA, we've got its updated location."

"All right, Garrus, Ashley, Miranda, suit up, and be in the hangar bay in 10," he ordered them. "Tali, get that code written up and on my omni-tool." His team was already rushing around him as he asked, "Anything else we need to know, EDI?"

"Nothing, Commander. However, Specialist Traynor is heading to you now. She seems to be in quite a hurry."

His new comms specialist, Samantha Traynor, burst into the War Room moments later, anxious and jittery. Without flinching, she stepped into the pit, and began tapping away at the holotable's console.

"Commander, Alliance Intelligence has ordered me to relay this to you," she said in a rush.

"What is it, Traynor?"

"We've got footage from Earth," she gravely stated.

Everyone stopped and turned their eyes to the holotable. Four screens blinked into view, each facing out in opposite directions like the faces of a cube. Without warning, a vid began to play. It was hazy at first, with even hazier sound. It wasn't until the camera panned upwards when John realised that someone was running. The ground blurred underneath, and the edges of the camera shook. Beneath the crackling static, frantic panting could be heard. There was no signs showing who, or what the person was running away from, but he knew the answer wasn't going to be good. John eyed the shaky horizon to determine where this took place. All that remained was the charred stumps of once-great cities sending columns of smoke into the air like the ghosts of their skyscrapers. Once the camera shifted view, terror stuck his heart. A full sortie of Reapers stomped around the remains of what had to be Sydney. John could only tell that from the collapsing remanent of the Harbour Bridge in the foreground. The Reapers moved in a search pattern, combing through the destruction of their invasion. Again, the camera shifted, focusing in on something just below the cliff the person stood on. Ranks of civilians huddled around hastily erected tents, shivering from the cold and from the fear of their inevitable deaths. A tiny light of hope sparked within him. There were survivors. Earth was still not lost to them.

That was, until John spotted a chilling, familiar sight at the far end of the camp. Dragons Teeth.

Lines of struggling humans were being dragged, kicking and screaming, towards the teeth. They yelled for a saviour that wouldn't come. They wailed, and wept, unable to accept the fate that was coming to meet them. The monstrosities he fought on Earth, "Cannibals" as the RDA called them, held the helpless in place as they kicked and screamed for mercy. In the blink of an eye, countless civilians were impaled. They writhed in their death as the spike burst through their torsos, splattering blood and viscera into the air.

"Son of a bitch," James managed to say.

Then came the husks.

Violently, their DNA was rewritten, vandalised and modified to suit the needs to the Reapers. Their skin paled into the colour of the heavy clouds above them, and thick cables burst through their torso and wrapped themselves around their morbid frames. A faint blue glow began to hum through the cracks in their skin, and their eyes fell out of their sockets, replaced by two chilling balls of light.

The spikes relinquished them, retreating back into their casings. Where the heels of feet tried to desperately dig into the ground, the soles of the husks fell, hunched over and ready to do whatever the Reapers bid. That's when one of the Cannibals below let out a shuddering cry, pointing up at the camera with its mutilated weapon. It let off a few stray shots, coming nowhere near the camera, but scaring the operator away all the same. They ran away from the ledge, the ground blurring under them as the camera came with him. It went on like that for a few minutes, all wild scrambling and breathless panting. Until a bright ray of light took up the picture, casting a blinding white light all around the room. Static followed, and the recording ended.

"We got that just a few moments ago," Traynor announced. "It's the only contact we've had with anyone in the Sol system since the invasion." Tapping at the terminal again, she made the vid screens disappear, and put up a map of the Milky Way. "We've also got reports of Reaper activity in several other systems, mostly systems on the fringe of the galaxy, but there are unconfirmed reports of unusual Mass Relay activity in the Pranas, Trebia, and Tasale systems." Red blinking lights flashed over the corresponding Mass Relays, unsettling John even further.

"Reaper scouts," John speculated.

"They're going for the major population centres," Miranda concluded.

"Palaven! They're going to hit Palaven!" Garrus burst in dismay.

"Joker, double time!" he ordered over the intercom. "The quicker we get this artefact, the quicker we can end this war."

The engines picked up as he headed towards the elevator with Miranda. They both headed up to his cabin, wasting no time in preparing for the landing.

Before his cabin door even opened, Miranda had her catsuit unzipped, and just before they stepped down into their bedspace, they were both down to their underwear. She knelt down to slide her footlocker from under the bed, and stepped into her black undersuit. John was shirtless at his locker when she moved towards him and tapped the top of her waist where the zipper began. Wordlessly, he zipped her up, strapping the zipper shut with the mag-strips sown into the material. Plates of armour slid onto their arms, tightened, and tested. It only took them a few minutes to get geared up and ready, and by the time Joker made it to the relay, they were down in the armoury.

A sudden jolt rocked the ship as the elevator reached the shuttle bay, signalling their exit from the mass relay corridor.

"Entering the Refuge system," Joker announced. "Estimated time till Ilos: 9 minutes."

Garrus was already sighting his rifle when they stepped out of the elevator. He needed no time to plate up, seeing as he lived, slept, and breathed in his armour.

"Commander," James called out from the weapons bench.

James had taken to tending to the armoury when he wasn't working out or trying to one-up Garrus's war stories. He overlooked all the ordinance shipments, and maintained their weapons.

"What is it, Vega?"

"I just wanted to show you the new Mark-Four barrels we got in for the assault rifles," he told him as he approached the bench. "Adds that extra punch to your firepower. I already gave your Mattock rifle the upgrade; you never know what you'll come across down there."

"I appreciate it," he nodded.

"James," Miranda called from the locker on the other side of the deck. "What on Earth is this, and what is it doing on my gun?"

She brandished her sub-machinegun, looking confusedly at an odd-looking contraption sitting on top of it.

"It's a biotic amplifier," he replied. "That jittery salarian scientist-"

"Mordin," John corrected him.

"Yeah, Mordin, told me to give that to you," he explained. "Said he made it with you and that loco bald chick in mind."

"And what does it do, exactly?" she asked him, eyeing it out.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Mordin just told me it'd boost your biotics in a fight," he said. "He seems like he knows what he's talking about, so I just trusted the guy."

John saw her hesitate before she holstered her gun. If it were anyone else, that mod would've been discarded instantly. It wasn't that she trusted Mordin enough to not question it, though. It was because John trusted Mordin, and that alone was enough for her.

"Where's Ashl-" John began to ask, cut off by the arrival of the elevator.

Ashley stepped out clad in her navy blue Alliance plate, tying her hair back in a tight bun. John caught a small glimpse at the pendant hanging around her neck; it was the same one she was wearing the night before they were on Ilos the first time around. Catching his gaze, she quickly tucked it into her breastplate, flashing him a brief smirk.

"Sorry for the wait," she apologised.

"So you should be," Miranda snapped, shooting her a warning glare. There was no doubt she caught that small exchange between them.

"It's fine, Williams," John cut in before either of them had the chance to say anything else. "Cortez," he called out to the Flight Lieutenant. "Start up the shuttle."

"Approaching Ilos orbit, we'll be breaking atmo in 40 seconds," Joker rang over the intercom.

After they did a final equipment check, they boarded the shuttle, cramming into the passenger compartment.

"You ready to go Commander?" Lieutenant Cortez asked from the cockpit.

"We're all set," he nodded, skimming over the drone code that Tali had just sent him.

Without another word, the shuttle rose and zipped out of the _Normandy_'s cargo bay. Outside, the atmosphere rattled against the hull as they descended down onto the surface.

"Incoming transmission from surface," Cortez announced.

"_Alliance shuttle B38, we have you tagged on a flight path over classified territory. Relay confirmation codes or change your flight plan, over," _buzzed a voice from the cockpit's speakers.

"I'm patching the codes through now," John said as his omni-tool lit up.

"_Codes received. It's an honour to have you here, Commander,_" said the agent.

His stomach churned slightly as they began their decent towards the dig site. Soon enough, the shuttle came to a stop, hovering above the ground. Before the hatch had opened, everyone had their weapons out, ready for even the slightest sign of battle.

A bleak cave opening greeted them, shrouded behind tall shrubbery. The air was crisp, untouched. Of course, Ilos had been a hidden wonder for as long as their civilisations had existed.

Just as they leapt onto the earthy ground, John caught the faintest shimmer in the corner of his eye.

"Company," he warned the others calmly, pointing his rifle at the disturbance.

Weapons whirred and clicked as his team backed him up, fanning out to surround the potential threat.

"Friendly!" the shimmer called out, before materialising into an asari commando.

Behind them, the shuttle sped off, kicking a gust of dead leaves into the air.

"You must think we're idiots if you think we're going to trust you that easily," Miranda sneered at her icily.

"I'm RDA!" she exclaimed. "Look, I'm just going to bounce the confirmation codes you sent through like 30 seconds ago," she said cautiously, slowly lowering her hands.

John glanced back at Garrus and Ashley. They caught his gist and nodded slowly.

"You do anything but patch the proper codes through, and you'll be breathing through your skull," he threatened her.

Taking a deep sigh, she opened up her omni-tool. Not a second later, John felt his own omni-tool buzz.

"The codes match," he told his team, lowering his gun. "Sorry, it's just how I operate. You understand," he apologised.

"Of course," she agreed. "Someone as decorated as you doesn't get to save the galaxy twice without having to point a few guns at people."

"You alone here?" he asked her as Garrus and Ashley checked out the entrance to the catacombs.

"My partner's camped out on that hill over there," she pointed out subtly. "No offence, Commander, but I'm sure he had his scope centred over the back of your head for a while now." He and Miranda turned to scan the horizon. "You understand," she said, failing to resist the opportunity.

John hardly flinched.

"It's an occupational hazard," he shrugged.

"Either way, it's good to have you here, Commander," she said, offering a hand out in greeting. "I'm Senior Operative Calyx," she introduced herself.

"We're going to need you to stay outside," Miranda told her plainly.

"Of course," Calyx complied. "We've been guarding this place for a few weeks now, and we still don't know what's inside that cave." For a moment, she peered into the darkness of the opening. "I guess it was on a need-to-know basis," she thought aloud. "And I didn't need to know."

"You haven't met any trouble, have you?" John asked.

"Not since we were assigned here," she replied. "Just the odd bird or pyjak messing with our sensors."

"Alright," he nodded. "Just watch our back," he told her, opening up a comm channel between the two of them. "Let us know if anything out-of-the-blue happens."

"Will do, Commander."

Together, John and Miranda approached the cave. Garrus and Ashley were waiting patiently for them, Garrus watching the horizon, and Ashley guarding the inside of the cave's mouth. Light was sucked into the abyss of the opening, and the darkness peered back at him with a sinister glare. He was drawn into the black, like he was being roped in.

"Shepard," Garrus said, placing a claw on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Garrus," he replied, just barely nodding back at him. "There's just… something there that's drawing me in," he told him. "It feels like the last time we were here."

"It's the artefact," Miranda added, her face aglow under the light of her visor. "The cipher in your head must be picking up its presence."

"We better get going," Ashley said, studying a map of the crypts on her omni-tool.

They filed into the cave, descending down towards the crypts entrance. Damp soil squelched underneath their boots, and tiny drips of water echoed through the cave. The darkness activated his wrist-torch, blanketing the rocky walls in a stark white light. An eerie silence fell upon them as they travelled deeper and deeper into the cave. At last, John's torch caught the corner of a grey concrete wall.

"Just like Liara's map says," Ashley declared.

Prothean line geometry was etched into the face of the wall, pulsing green and growing in intensity as they approached it. A door materialised from the stone, seemingly creating itself from thin air.

"Drone out," John announced as he executed the code Tali wrote.

A blue orb floated away from their position stopping just inches away from the door. The ground shook. Little by little, the door slid aside, while the cave quaked and rumbled. Inside, John spied a raised pathway that ran the entire length of the antechamber, from the entrance to the exit. Gliding across the floor, the drone entered the room, sweeping it for any traps. All seemed well until it made it to the centre. An EMP pulse overloaded the drone's circuitry, causing it to fizzle out pathetically.

"Well that was anti-climatic," Garrus quipped.

"There must be traps in place specifically for synthetics," Ashley speculated. "Makes sense since the Reapers are synthetic, right?"

John could hear Miranda give and answer, but it came to him muffled and distorted. Again, the force that he experienced at the cave's mouth was pulling him in, stronger this time, and less inclined to resistance. He fought against it, trying to regain control of his body, but the more he did, the more he realised that nothing good would come of it. Whatever it was, it was… good. It didn't want to take over him. It was a gentle finger curling and uncurling, leading him towards something great.

"John!" Miranda shouted after him. "The traps! Don't go in-"

He stepped over the antechamber's threshold, oblivious to Miranda's objections. They watched as he paced into the antechamber, dreading the trap that would no doubt spring at any moment.

Instead, a soft green light pulsed from within the room just over his head. It followed him as he traipsed further and further in, doing him no harm and no help.

"Enlightened presence detected," said a calm voice. It came from inside, speaking in soft tones, and was most definitely feminine. "Defence systems deactivated."

John felt the presence let go of him, stumbling forward slightly, before regaining his footing. Miranda came running at him as soon as he stumbled, supporting him even though he had no need of it.

"Okay… what just happened?" Ashley asked, looking around the chamber.

The chamber was awash in gentle green light, illuminating the walls. Inscriptions had appeared from thin air, long passages written in elegant Prothean script, indecipherable to anybody but John.

"What do they say?" Miranda asked him instantly.

"They're all different passages," he told them, squinting at each piece. "One looks like a long equation, that one there is a schematic," pointing at the panel closest to the entrance. "That one there," he began, reading the one to their left. "It's their final words."

Unwrapping himself from Miranda's arms, he stepped down from the central walkway, and approached the panel, reading as he drew nearer.

_We were the Dozen. _

_We were the embers of a fire,_

_That once lit up the galaxy. _

_To those that proceed us,_

_Waste no time. _

_The Reapers will come. _

_We will do what we can,_

_But what we will do will not be enough._

_Do not fail where we failed. _

_The Crux was our life's work._

_It holds all we knew,_

_And all we could do. _

_Do not delay. _

John read it aloud, as Miranda went along the walls with her omni-tool set on record.

"They knew the Conduit was a one way trip," Ashley realised.

"Oh, Liara is going to faint when you tell her about this," Garrus said. "All these Prothean inscriptions, and she's not even here to see them."

"Miranda, are you ready?" he asked her over his shoulder.

"Yes, Shepard," she replied as she finished up.

"Alright, form up," he ordered them.

At John's approach, the door into the main chamber slid open, with more subtlety than the first. It lead into an unlit passageway, the light from the antechamber spilling into its darkness. They climbed its slight slope, right into the central chamber. Despite the fact that he had foregone the use of his gun, John had taken point. To him, there was no sense of danger, no need to be alarmed. It was an unfamiliar calm.

Once they had reached the chamber, the lights brightened at their arrival. There, in the centre of the room, hovered the artefact, the Crux; it's matte black surface cracked with glowing Prothean adornment.

All of a sudden, the walls began to shake. Panels mightily slid aside to reveal twelve pods, housed in the walls around them. Each one held a different inscription above their hollows.

"It's their memorial," John explained. Miranda, Ashley, and Garrus all had perplexed looks on their faces. "They left these here to let us know who they were."

John read some of the names: _Ankos, Janiri, Enra. _They were the only reason their civilisation had lived as long, and as prosperous as they did. They bestowed upon them the gifts of their time. Without them, they would've never reached this far, and without them, they had no chance in winning this war.

"Look," Garrus pointed out. "The artefact… it's… pulsing."

Its lights rose and fell in intensity. Oddly, John felt a strange sense of empathy with the Crux, like it was connecting with him.

"It's pulsing with Shepard's heartbeat," Miranda declared, studying his biometric readout on her visor.

On a whim, he reached out to touch the cool surface of the artefact. The moment his glaive was near enough, a brilliant flash of light came from the Crux, blinding them all for a few moments.

When John opened his eyes next, twelve figures surrounded them, stepping out from the surface of the pods in the walls. They stood not much taller than John, with two pairs of eyes spaced along their wide faces. It was clear that they were the forms that the Collectors had descended from, except they had been untouched by the Reapers' cold hands.

"We are the Dozen," said the being straight ahead of him. Her plaque read _Athame, _and her voice was maternal, like the voice that they had heard in the antechamber. "You see us now as memories of what we once were, before we left through the Conduit."

"Should you stumble upon this before the Reapers arrive," said the Prothean named Ankos. "Know that the force that will come will be unrelenting, merciless, but most of all, unstoppable."

"Unstoppable," interrupted Janiri. "Lest you find their weakness."

The chamber swirled. Where the walls once were, a glistening vista of towers and spires replaced them. Large expanses of lush, healthy grass covered the hills, and flocks of birds flew overhead.

"This planet was once a rich beacon of Prothean culture," explained Ankos. "In our time, it was the hub of knowledge and science, known across the galaxy for its magnificent library spires."

"We conducted all our research here," Enra said. "Here we developed the gene sequence that granted Asari their natural biotic ability."

"Here we discovered the ability to travel faster than light," Janiri added.

"And here we were sentenced to die," Athame finished.

Again, the walls swirled. The Reapers had begun to descend from the sky, unclenching their claws.

"The end was dawning upon our civilisation," said the one named Nothaeus. "Our military was slowly succumbing to the overwhelming might of the Reapers, while we, laboured over obliterated husks of Reaper ships, hoping to find their weakness."

"But we were bested before we could find it," Janiri said.

Around them, the looming walls of a Prothean preservation bunker built themselves from the ground up. Countless stasis pods were being sheathed within the walls, while many other Protheans still struggled to get to safety.

"Our compound was compromised, and we were torn from our work," Enra explained.

His entire squad looked at the chaos in a frightened awe. He recognised Ankos and Enra running into the bunker, each clutching some sort of pistol, with their free hand holding on to each other.

"We were all kept in the stasis pods until the Reaper threat had finally left the galaxy, hoping that we could rebuild from the ashes with our fellow comrades," Nothaeus told them. "But as time went on, the bunker's power slowly failed, and one by one, the final flames of our civilisation were snuffed out."

"The VI responsible for our bunker diverted the power to keep our pods active, and when we awoke, we became the last vestiges of the once great Prothean Empire," said Athame.

They watched Athame walk down the hollow hallways of the bunker, weeping for her brothers and sisters that were trapped inside their pods.

"Millions of Protheans died in the vessels that they were to awake in," Ankos grimaced.

"Without the numbers, we had no hope of restarting our empire," Enra elaborated. "And so, with our last FTL capable ship, we took to the fledgling races, grooming them and giving them the gifts that we were blessed with."

"It wasn't until Nothaeus, who was dedicated to discovering the origins of the Reapers, saw how they were able to overwhelm us so quickly," Janiri said.

"It was the Citadel," Nothaeus revealed. "The Citadel, coming from origins unknown, was a mass relay, linking with the dark space outside our galaxy from where came."

"We knew then that we had to shut it down," Athame said.

"Using our greatest achievement, the Conduit, we would take an irreversible trip to the Citadel, and shut it down once and for all."

John heard several clicks come from the Crux. Twelve pointed slivers of Prothean design poked out of the artefact's surface.

"Should we not return, we leave our memory shards. In them, the complete history of our research, and hopefully, the key to your civilisation's survival," Athame finished.

"Good luck," they all said in an eerie sense of unison, and faded away back into thin air.

"Spirits," Garrus gaped.

"I think Liara is going to do more than faint when she hears about this," Ashley added.

"Okay, everyone grab three shards each," John ordered them. When he reached out to grab the first of his three, he saw a wealth of information flash before his eyes. "No! Wait!" he warned them suddenly. "They activate when you touch them," he explained as they eyed him with suspicion. "Miranda and I will use our biotics to put them in your packs. None of you have the Cipher in your heads. I'm not risking anything happening to you when you touch them."

Carefully, he and Miranda lifted the shards in biotic fields, placing them into their combat packs with prudence.

A transmission from Calyx came through to his omni-tool just as they were finishing up.

"Commander! We've got incoming! They gave no codes, and they're refusing to change their flight path."

"How many?" he asked her sharply, as he was exiting the chamber with his team at a brisk pace.

"Three… no wait, I see four shuttles," she answered him.

"Okay, stay down, we're on our way," he ordered her.

"Roger tha-" she began to say. "Commander, its Cerberus! They're dropping troops right now!" The familiar whine of mass accelerated projectiles peppered her transmission. "They're firing on my position!"

With a nod, his entire team doubled timed it back through the cave, prepping their weapons for the firefight. John heard the gunfire as they neared the cave's mouth. Calyx's suited frame was standing at the centre of the cave, hunched over, but glowing with a purple aura. She let off a few pulses of dark energy in every direction, each one taxing her more and more. The ground around her spat as the volley of bullets impacted into the dirt. The majority of them, however, were caught in Calyx's biotic field, crippling it. Her entire body strained against the weight of the fire, and eventually, she could hold it back no more. Bursts of gunfire caught her in the shoulder, arms, and hip, sending her crashing to the ground. Ascending to the surface, John let off two shots at the first Cerberus helmet he saw. Garrus and Miranda took a defensive stance around Calyx's body, dragging her into the safety of the cave. A medi-gel application was just barely the treatment she needed, but right now, it was all they could do. Taking cover behind the rocks around the cave, John took down a few more troopers, but the force was still advancing. He noticed Miranda eyeing out the rock cover opposite to him. Opening fire, he gave her a brief moment to sprint out and get into place. Wispy trails of sniper fire criss-crossed the field as Calyx's partner and Garrus began to pick off the open targets. The force was still pushing onwards, creeping little by little towards the cave. Lithe specialists had joined the fray, wielding blades and zipping across the field like bolts. Cursing his erratic biotics, he managed nick the two of them with stray shots from his rifle, but they went down all the same.

Then, a pair of rockets zipped their way toward them, exploding just metres away from his position. With just moments to spare, he had the mind to put the rock formation between him and the blast. Once the dust had settled, he saw the traces of a biotic field die out around Miranda. Garrus and Ashley were far enough from the explosion to be safe, but they were still stunned nonetheless.

"Just give up, Shepard!" shouted a chilling voice from the field. "Give us the artefact, and we'll let you limp off with your life!"

Risking a peek around his cover, he glanced Kaidan and a redheaded woman pacing out into the open. His mismatched arms were held open in mock acceptance.

"You're going the wrong way about all of this," Kaidan continued. "Destroying the Reapers isn't all there is!"

The gunfire had ceased, leaving Kaidan's voice unchallenged.

"What do you want us to do?" Ashley whispered harshly into their comms.

He gave no reply.

"Come out already!" Kaidan taunted them. "Miranda," he shouted out. "Don't you want to see your sister? I'm surprised you haven't rushed out here to see her already."

At that, John took another look at the redheaded woman with Kaidan. It was Oriana. Her features were unmistakably reminiscent of Miranda's. She even walked with the deadly grace that she possessed.

Across from him, Miranda was getting a glimpse at her for herself. A shocked disposition had quickly changed into one of rage.

"Oriana!" she yelled in fury.

"Miri, don't be mad," Oriana smirked. "I was only following in your footsteps."

"Why would you fake your own death? And why would you join up with Cerberus?" she demanded in outrage.

"Kaidan, Cerberus faked my death?" Oriana asked in nonchalance.

"We thought it would be a good touch," he chuckled mechanically.

"I never wanted to be taken away from Father," Oriana explained. "I was just a child, and you were already forcing me against him."

"I saved you!" Miranda yelled back from behind the rock, hints of desperation clinging to her voice.

"Saving me would imply that I was in some form of danger," Oriana calmly rebuked. "Growing up in wealth was not a danger, Miri."

"Don't you call me that!" Miranda screamed back at her.

Oriana was strutting her way towards Miranda's cover, while Kaidan stood back with a squad of troopers behind him.

"Why?" Oriana asked with a mock pout. "I'm your sister, aren't I?"

"To hell with that!" Miranda cried out, leaping from her cover. A whirling mass of biotic energy enveloped her hand, and she lashed out with it.

Oriana dodged the blow, unsheathing the sword at her back. In an upward stroke, Oriana swung the blade out, hoping to catch Miranda's neck. Instead, it just barely caught the edge of a fresh omni-blade. Writhing in fury, Miranda pushed her sister off, throwing a biotic field out. In a graceful flip, Oriana evaded it, holding her sword up in defiance. Miranda came at her with a burning rage, slicing with the omni-blade and striking with her biotics. None of her hits managed to land, despite the ferocity that burned in her. Oriana was a flurry of blade swipes, calmly meeting each slice, and dodging every strike. It was clear that she was having no great deal of trouble in this melee. It was almost as if she had taken some sick pleasure in it.

"Shepard!" Garrus hissed through the comms. "What the hell are you doing?"

John was frozen. He was unable to do anything but watch Miranda lash out violently at her sister. Any opportunity that he had at taking down Oriana turned into a risk of shooting Miranda. He was locked up, unresponsive to his own attempts to spring into action.

Miranda's breathing soon became ragged and unreliable. Blood seeped from the gaps in her plating where Oriana had landed a few glancing blows. Yet, in her great fatigue, an incredible rage stirred within her. It was undeniable, and would not be quenched until she had stricken Oriana's betrayal down.

"Have you had enough, Miri?" Oriana taunted her, unaffected by the weariness that had begun to set into her bones.

"Don't call me that," Miranda spat. She heaved in great breaths of air, readying herself for another round.

"What? Don't I deserve to call you 'Miri' anymore?" she asked her. "You're being a little over dramatic."

"You betrayed me," Miranda huffed.

"I'm not the first one," Oriana reasoned. "Niket betrayed you, and you killed him. Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes." She scowled at her, straightening up.

"I'm hurt," she frowned.

"Not as much as you should be," Miranda countered.

"We'll see about that," Oriana smirked. "Do it," she said into her comm piece.

Before she could ask, a hail of rockets careened towards her, John, Garrus, and Ashley. She ran to the cave, leaping towards it. An explosion smacked her aside mid-leap, throwing her towards John. With a thud, she slammed into the rocks, falling limply onto the ground.

The blasts caught John too, casting him backwards with an almighty push. For a few moments, he blacked out, awaking soon after. His vision was hazy, disrupted by dust and the explosion. A persistent ringing pervaded his ears, resistant to his attempts to shake them away. He spotted Ashley and Garrus clambering out of the cave, cut up and bruised, but fighting back despite it all. Miranda lay bleeding to his left, barely conscious and barely able to move. He crawled towards her, still dizzy and disoriented.

A figure stood over Miranda's body as he tried to reach her. It wasn't human by the looks of its skin. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen, in fact. It had thin legs, covered by a metallic sheen, with a face that was almost human. With cold, unanimated eyes, it searched Miranda's broken frame, eyeing out the combat pack at her waist. It reached down and plucked the pack, but was held back by Miranda's bloody hand. In a single action, the being dropped the pack, grasped her arm, and snapped it at the elbow. Already broken and beaten, Miranda hardly even winced. A single shudder passed her lips, and she fell back to the ground, unconscious.

"NO!" John yelled in terrible indignation. He felt the familiar surge of eezo through his body, coursing through him with a refined veracity. In his rage, he clutched the metallic being in a stasis field, crushing it slowly as he got to his feet. His face grew hot as his scars lit up, crossing his face in a fiery orange web. He hefted the thing into the air, and with everything he had, he tore it apart. He ripped its arm from its socket, its head from its body. He watched as the circuitry within it fizzled and crackled. He watched as its parody of a face broke in two, twisted by his utter ire.

And then, once he was completely satisfied that he had avenged Miranda; he passed out.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait, i've been contemplating which way to go with this plotline. I have four versions of this chapter on my laptop, and this was the one I was most proud of. As always, leave a review, by Athame, they'll help me. :)**


	14. XIV

_A few days earlier…_

A white-hot plume of gas erupted outwards from the surface of Anadius, soaring high above its sweltering surface in a brilliant arc of light. Flares of the same magnitude were erupting all over the star, growing more and more prevalent as it delved closer and closer towards its death.

At a distance away from the deadly radiation of the star's workings, Kaidan stood aboard Cronos Station, silently admiring the magnificent bursts of energy radiating from the star's coalescent outer layers. His plight upon Mars had left most of his augmentations in need of heavy repairs, but he had deferred them once he had heard that the Illusive Man had need to see him. The patriarch of Cerberus had grown reclusive as of late, only contacting him, Kai, or O in times of great need. Of the three lieutenants, Kaidan was the only one that the Illusive Man had yet to see alone in person. Despite his underlying distrust of Cerberus, something within him found a sense of honour in this meeting. The Illusive Man had been tinkering and toiling over a myriad of Reaper artefacts in order to further humanity's cause, and if he had the time to meet with Kaidan, then he would at least have the decency to respect that.

"He'll see you now," said a nearby assistant. She was dressed smartly, and clutched a datapad in her arms, but what Kaidan found striking was the blue glow that hid in the depths of her eyes. He had seen the same negligible glow among the other staff, even in O's eyes sometimes, but against the deep brown of her irises, it was hard to miss.

With nothing but a nod, he followed her to the Illusive Man's grand aerie. His arm clinked and whirred in distress as it tried to cope with the sandblasted damage. He knew nothing of his jaw, however. While the cold metal prosthetic had filled in the empty portions of his face, an even emptier response returned whenever he tried to feel its presence. Only his scarred hand could give him the satisfaction that there was something there, but even then, it was a hollow sentiment.

A steep ramp preceded the doors to the Illusive Man's glass aerie, ascending towards it like a stairway to glory. Once he arrived at the doors, they slid aside, casting him in the burning light of Anadius, still discharging towering plumes of solar radiation. Scanning the room, Kaidan struggled to see where the Illusive Man was sitting. Instead, his eyes were locked on the darkened spire that stood erect in the centre of the room. Taking a step toward it, he heard the doors behind him slide shut. A sprawling network of wires spanned from the base of the spire, covering the shining tiled floor in a web of technology.

"I came across it in the days of my youth," spoke a deep, croaky voice. Kaidan turned to see a pair of bright blue lights staring at him from the darkness, a sprawling maze of equally-as-blue lines surrounding them. "Tell me, how much do you know about Shanxi, Kaidan?"

"We fought the turians there, during the First Contact Wars," Kaidan answered, delving into his knowledge of humanity's history.

"And do you know why the turians felt the need to attack Shanxi?" the Illusive Man asked him.

"It was our closest colony to the relay," Kaidan answered. "When they defeated us, it meant the end of our foothold in that system."

"Or so the Alliance would have you believe," the Illusive Man countered. Stepping out into the light of the star, Kaidan could finally see the toll that his self-imposed exclusion had on him. The elaborate maze of blue scars had shades of black running along their lengths, a clear sign of necrosis setting in.

"The turians were protecting an old dig site they stumbled across during their time pushing us out of the system," he enlightened him. "Otherwise, they would've never sustained such an attack as their siege on Shanxi." He turned to face the spire, "They were protecting this."

"What's so important about it?" he asked, unable to cover up the scepticism in his voice.

"I know it doesn't seem like much," he answered. "But it holds great power, power that hasn't been seen for millennia."

Kaidan eyed the spire, digging through its aesthetic to find the 'power' that it was supposed to hold.

"It's deactivated," the Illusive Man smirked, peering through him like glass. "I know what you're thinking, Kaidan," he said, still wearing the smirk. "And no, I'm not reading your mind." Pausing for a moment, he lit a thick cigarette and took a deep drag from it. "I know what you're thinking because I was you once," he boasted. "I was you for just a brief moment, when I stood in front of this for the first time," he told him, pointing at the spire with his cigarette. "I looked at it for what seemed to be an age before I could determine the mystery that lay under its surface." He had paced before it now, admiring it with the same awe that he had for it all those years ago. "But like most things in life, all it needed was the right touch."

With a simple tap, the spire lit up in a flare of blinding light. A trembling vibration had begun to fill Kaidan's skull. It was gentle, caring almost, coaxing him into a state of blissful submission. He met the force with suspicion, unable to determine what motives lay beneath its tempting surface. He fought back slightly, giving rise to a new force, this one less merciful than the last. It was a rumbling groan, beating at the insides of skull. Tiny pricks of light had start to swim around in his one good eye as he screwed it shut to wish it away.

"Don't fight it, Kaidan!" the Illusive Man yelled over the wracking vibrations. "Give in to it!"

Every atom in his body was built to fight this, to fight the force that wanted to control his free will. It was something he learned a time ago, when he was still whole, and less broken than he was now; that having no free will made you lesser of a being than a husk. Shepard had told him that, and yet, with all the hate that he had for him, all he could hear was John's voice telling him to fight back.

But with every push, the force pushed back in tenfold. He sunk to his knees; the sound of his greaves against the floor washed out by the constant buzzing that assaulted his ears. An agonising yell burst from his throat as he willed the force from his head. Even the cold metal of his arm was a welcome presence was he brought both hands to his skull, clutching it like it made a difference.

Yet he still could not fight the force. His yelling had been kicked into a shallow whimper, and his hands had fallen limply to his side. For the briefest moment, he blacked out, only to awake a second later with nothing but the silence of the room falling upon his ears. An odd strength filled his body, and with surprising ease, he rose to his feet.

Behind him, the door opened. He took a sharp glance back and saw O stepping into the room, the blue glow in her eyes staring right into his soul. She slipped an arm around his waist and the other around his shoulders. Her body was pressed close to his, their plates of armour kissing one another. Kaidan could see the light more clearly now, and he understood its presence, instantly aware that his eyes were casting the same glow.

"Now," began the Illusive Man, as he pulled up a map of a star system. "I need you to acquire something for me…"

* * *

John awoke startled. A shrill beeping rang out, getting sharper and sharper as his senses came about. As he looked around, he saw Dr. Chakwas step towards him, holding her hands out in a calm gesture.

"Relax, Shepard," she reassured him. "You're safe."

"Where-" he began to ask.

"Where are you? You're back aboard the _Normandy_," she told him. "Careful now, you've got a broken rib and a mild concussion."

"Miranda," he groaned. "Where's Miranda?"

With a solemn incline of her head, she nodded over to the bed next to him. Attached to multitude of pipes and tubes, laid Miranda, completely unconscious and bruised from head to foot.

"Whatever happened to her down there, it almost killed her," the doctor told him. "She received a terrible concussion, as well as several lacerations all around her body. Not to mention the severe contusions, the shattered elbow, and broken clavicle." Taking a sigh, she paused. "It's a wonder how she's even alive at all."

"She's stubborn," John grimaced.

Her face lay peacefully still, except for the subtle tremble of her lips as oxygen mask pumped life-giving air into her. It caused him a great deal of pain to see her like this, a pain that was greater than any fractured rib or minor concussion.

"She'll be fine, Shepard," Dr. Chakwas reassured him again. "I'm doing the best I can."

A word of thanks just barely escaped his mouth. It was all he could say in a time like this. The Reapers ravaged planets, Cerberus meddled in his plans, and the woman most important to him lay comatose in a bed.

"Shepard, you're finally awake," Garrus said in relief as he walked through the door. Tali flanked him, moving slowly, but still looking healthier than last he saw her.

"I'm really sorry my drone didn't work out, Shepard," Tali apologised. "I should've put in a redundant circuit system."

"Forget about it, Tali," John said, waving her off as best he could in his condition. "We got through all the same."

"Wish we could say the same about getting out," Garrus said in dismay. "Ashley and I did all we could to get to you two, but those damn troopers had us pinned down." He was shaking his head, as if he were reliving it over again. "Then that… thing came, and we knew we were too late."

"I remember that," John said weakly.

"You ripped it to pieces then," Garrus told him. "Your scars came back, and they were burning like nothing I've seen before."

"Was that all?" he asked, unsure if the concussion had affected his memory.

"You passed out. Ashley and I tried one last push to get to you, but they brought the gunship back around to start tearing into our cover." He still had a forlorn look on his face, and his head hung low in shame. "They got the shards," Garrus revealed. "We don't know how, but they got your data shards. Miranda's as well."

Had he possessed the energy, he would've slammed a fist down in anger, but all he could do in his state was curse under his breath.

"So we've got half of them, and Cerberus has the rest," John confirmed.

"That sounds… that sounds just about right," Garrus admitted painfully.

"There's no use in kicking ourselves over this," John told him sternly, feeling the resolve flow back into his body. "We got beat. Cerberus has an upper hand, and Miranda's in a damn coma." He straightened up in his bed, wincing as a sharp pain stabbed though his abdomen. Ignoring it, he gritted his teeth and continued. "The way I see it, we've got two choices. We either sit around and wait for the Reapers to get us, or we regroup and show those bastards what we're made of."

"There's the Shepard I know," Tali beamed. "I told you he wouldn't let this get to him."

"Damn right," Garrus agreed with resolve. "And I didn't say he would let it get to him," he told Tali.

"Where're we heading now?" John asked them, realising that the hum of the ship's engines were subsiding to come down to relay speed.

"Ashley told Joker to set a course for the Citadel, to get the memory shards in safer hands," Tali answered.

"Good," he nodded. "How badly were you two injured?"

"We never got close enough to the action to get anything less than a few cuts and scrapes, but that was more Ashley than me," Garrus told him. "Turns out having thick turian skin can come in handy."

"Okay, that's it you two," Dr. Chakwas said as she began to usher them out. "The Commander needs his rest. Tali, don't forget to take your meds."

"Get better soon, Shepard!" Tali called out before the door closed on them.

"Shepard, you're going to need to rest if you want to get back out there," she urged him. "I've already patched your rib up, but you need to let the bone set. Rest up. I'll do my best with Ms. Lawson before we get to the Citadel."

Nodding his understanding, he let himself fall back into the cot. He wished he could go to sleep though, he truly did. His gaze was stuck firmly on Miranda's still face, his lips hanging open in a stunned silence. For as long as he knew her, she seemed so invincible to him. In fact, the first time they had properly met, she had apparently evaded certain death at the hands of a traitorous Cerberus agent. Countless times after that, she survived perilous odds by his side: the derelict Reaper, the Collector base, even the against the Reapers on Earth. Now, as she lay across from him, he cursed whatever deity would hear him. Miranda could finally be bested, and to him, that meant that they could all be bested. It was a terrible wake up call for him, but it was a wake up call nonetheless.

Not long after the ship shuddered out of the mass relay system, Joker announced their arrival at the Serpent Nebula.

"ETA 9 minutes," he declared.

Feeling a sense of restlessness, and a guilty desire to leave the med-bay, John got to his feet, ignoring Dr. Chakwas' cries against it.

"Doc, I'll be fine," he told her gruffly. "It's not even that bad," he lied.

"No sudden movements," she conceded, pursing her lips. "I don't want to have to mend that bone again, is that clear?" she half-ordered him. The maternal tones in her sentiment were almost comforting to him.

"You got it," he nodded.

Slowly, he limped towards the door, holding back a wince every time he took a step. He had only a few more steps to go when the door slid open to admit Ashley into the med-bay. There was a noticeable gash along her jaw, but other than that, she looked rather healthy.

"Oh God, Skipper," Ashley said in surprise. "Here," she said, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders, taking extra care not to agitate his mending bones.

"I'm fine, Ash," he told her stubbornly.

"Yeah, no, you're not," she said sternly.

Begrudgingly, he allowed her to support him to the elevator. It wasn't until the carriage doors closed when the silence between them broke.

"I'm sorry about Miranda," Ashley admitted. "We'll make 'em pay for what they did to her."

"I didn't think you and her got along," John confessed with a low chortle.

"What made you think that?" she raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms.

"Don't act dumb, Ashley," John admonished her. "You may have acted like you took it well, but we both know it ate you up inside."

"Well how else was I supposed to take it?" she burst. "If you had told me sooner, instead of waiting till our last week guarding that Scythebreaker production complex," she reasoned, turning it against him. "Maybe, just _maybe_ I might have taken it better."

The elevator dinged just before John could get out his rebuttal. Ashley didn't wait for him to get a word in. Instead, she paced brusquely out of the carriage, leaving him to limp the rest of the way to the bridge.

Thankfully, Ashley had her own business to attend to in the War Room, but he couldn't help but think of the rift that was slowly pushing them apart. Ashley had been a dear friend to him, for as long as they've known each other. Of course, given the nature of their mission with Saren, they had gravitated to one another. But after the months of post-mission catch-ups, the culmination of their courtship was almost underwhelming.

After sharing a brief kiss, John, swamped with pressure and the grief of losing Kaidan on Virmire, put the integrity of the mission before a relationship with Ashley. It was incredibly hard to turn her away, especially when she had been so caring towards him.

_"John," _he remembered her saying. _"If we make it out of this alive…" _The timid look in her eyes was still so clear to him after all this time. She had said all she wanted with everything but her lips. _"I'm coming back up here, and you and I, we're…" _Her voice trailed off, leaving him hanging on her last word. A stray beam of light had caught her pendant under her chin as she gave him that same mischievous smirk before leaving.

The thought of that night filled his mind as he ambled towards the bridge, catching brief glimpses of the Citadel Fleet as they passed by them. Joker had heard his grunting approach, and turned to give him a greeting.

"Hey Commander," Joker nodded. "Heard about Miranda. It really sucks that they did that to her," he said.

"The sooner we get her to Huerta, the better," John told him.

"We'll get 'em back," he said in a reassuring tone.

"Yeah," he agreed. "We'll get 'em back."

After the correct docking procedures had been followed, and after Joker had given the Alliance Official adequate lip, the _Normandy_ glided into port, her hull thumping under the weight of the docking clamps. A medical team had already been on hand to shuttle Miranda safely to Huerta Memorial, one of the most prestigious hospitals on the Citadel. John tried to keep up with the team for as long as he could, but with his setting bones, he couldn't jog without pain screaming through his torso.

"Do you need a wheelchair, Commander?" one of the medics had asked him before they boarded the elevator.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Just take care of her."

The doors slid closed as John caught one last glimpse of Miranda's bruised face. A pang of regret rose in his guts, and it took all he had to try and ignore it. His wallowing was short lived, however, when Tali approached him and placed compassionate hand on his shoulder.

"How you holding up, Shepard?" she asked, her suit's voice box gargling her words.

"I'm up," he smiled ruefully.

"She'll be fine," Tali said with bright optimism. After a short, respectful pause, Tali continued. "Liara wants to see us," she informed him cautiously.

"Tali, don't," he said, shaking his head, catching the pitiful tone in her voice.

It didn't take much for her to understand his request. This was a trying time for him, and to have his teammates pity him would only just enhance the suffering. He needed to get his mind on the mission, banish the Reapers, and ruin Cerberus from the ground up.

A few minutes later, after the skycar had shuttled him to the RDA tower, he came to Liara's office. It was a grand ordeal, much grander than he was used to, but then again, Liara had inherited the galaxy's most infamous security network, as well as control of the Citadel's RDA branch. A few luxuries here and there were expected. A tinted window that spanned the length of a wall was the only thing that stood between them and the bustling skycar traffic outside. Various Prothean artefacts glimmered around the room, as well as a few reimagined artworks of ancient Prothean cities.

His team were all already gathered in her office, and much to his surprise, Samara was too. She had been the first to greet him, walking nimbly towards him and clapping a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It is good to see you alive and well, Shepard," she greeted him in her graceful accent. "It hurts me dearly to hear of Miranda, however. May the Goddess watch over her," she said, as if the words alone could shake her from her coma.

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, Samara," John began carefully. "I don't think we're doing Miranda much help by weeping over her," his voice had began to build. "That goes for all of you," he said, raising himself up in spite of the pain. "Miranda's still alive, and whether she's well or not, she'd despise this." The words had stung him slightly, but he knew it to be true. "We continue on with the mission, because that's the only thing she would want." Curiously, he took a short glance at Ashley. There was a hint of remorse in her eyes, but John could still see that she didn't think any better of Miranda. "Hell, the only thing stopping her from coming here today and telling us that we need to get our asses in gear is the fact that she's in a damn coma!" he exclaimed.

A look of ironclad resolve had begun to form on everyone's face, Ashley included. As much as he wanted to be at Miranda's side, he knew there was nothing he could do about it. There was an entire galaxy to save.

"Shepard's right," Liara nodded.

A map of the galaxy burst into the centre of the room as the lights around them dimmed, and the window behind them blackened out. Flashing red lights were pulsing all across the map, with Mass Relay traffic readouts hovering over them.

"We don't have the time. Every second that passes means that the Reapers get closer and closer," Liara told them, her voice stern. "People are fleeing from their planets, seeking refuge anywhere that isn't near the outer rim." She tapped a few keys on her holo-keyboard, highlighting a few of the blinking mass relays. "The heaviest masses of refugees are fleeing to the Omega Nebula. Already, we've had reports of several fatal collisions occurring around the relay, and little work has been done to try and alleviate the situation."

"Can't we establish a no-fly zone around the relay? That'll allow refugees to safely pass through," Tali suggested.

"None of the Council races can spare forces adequate enough to enforce the zone," Liara answered. "Even if we do get the forces necessary, the nearby Cerberus presence would be a constant thorn in their side."

"Why the hell is Cerberus in the Omega Nebula?" John spat, not bothering to hide his utter contempt.

"They arrived in force, a month or so ago," Samara informed him. "They came with the sole intention of occupying Omega station, and eventually, they did."

"Can't imagine that'd sit well with Aria," Garrus added.

"It didn't," Samara said frankly. "I had to drag her into the shuttle when we lost the station."

"Samara volunteered to enlist the help of the mercs on Omega," Liara said, answering their unvoiced questions. "Though, I suspect she did it with an ulterior motive," she added, glancing at Samara for confirmation.

"I did, and I am sorry for the deception, Liara," she admitted, bowing apologetically. "The need to cleanse Omega grew strong within me. If I could cleanse Omega, I believed that their force could be used to help those fleeing from the Reapers."

"I already tried that," Garrus spoke out. "I could've told you that trying to civilise Omega would be impossible."

"You did not use the methods I used," Samara rebuked calmly. "We almost reached an agreement, Aria and I, but that's when Cerberus launched its attack."

"Aria's already united the merc groups under one banner," Liara said. "They've already hit several Cerberus cells since their union."

"Good," John affirmed. "The more pressure we can on them, the better."

"It's not all _good_ news, however," Liara remarked as she typed, well aware of the sarcasm in her voice. "The headcounts are coming in from Alliance Naval Control," she began. "Most fleets are down to 60% of their original strength, with the _Washington_, Admiral Hackett, and Dr. Nathan Janusstill missing in action."

The _Washington _was under Admiral Hackett's command, and the flagship of the Fifth Fleet. John knew that her presence would be sorely needed if they were to take the fight to the Reapers; she boasted a heavy mass-accelerator cannon that ran from prow to stern, with two Thannix cannon batteries built on her port and starboard side.

"At the moment, the majority of the Alliance fleet has been told to avoid open conflict, and they have now been delegated to deliver N7 strike teams into strategically valuable locations, as well as escorting civilian evacuation efforts," she told them, looking around the room to nods of acknowledgement. "But, why I've really brought you here today is this," she said, straightening up and pulling out a black case from under her desk.

Flipping the catches, the case opened up, revealing the six remaining Prothean shards suspended in a buzzing mass effect field.

"It is to my knowledge that we only possess half of the shards that you acquired on Ilos." The disappointment in her voice was minimal, but it still brought a minute amount of shame among them all. "One way or another, we need to get them back."

"Like that's possible," Ashley scoffed. "They've probably moved them to a black site already."

"Cerberus'll fuck up somehow," James said with light optimism.

"And once they do, we'll rain fire down upon them that'll melt their skin from their bones," John scowled darkly.

A shrill alert rang from Liara's desk, and in great fluidity, she opened it up. Her face widened in shock as she brought a hand to her face.

"By the Goddess…"

* * *

A booming rumble shook the stones from the ceiling above, sending them crashing in wheel-sized chunks towards the ground. Grunt had just been barely able to dive aside as one fell with an almighty thump an inch to his right. His keen senses could hear the glorious thump of concentrated shotgun fire in the distance, and the blood in his veins began to rage with the intensity of his pure krogan lineage. Warriors were running out in front of him, filling the corridor with roars of battle and shouts of primal glee. Already, he was storming forward to join the fight that was no doubt raging on the surface. A part of him knew that it was another clan come to challenge Clan Urdnot, but as the brilliant heat of Tuchanka's sun lit up his face, he saw that he was wrong.

Massive beings, three times the size of the thresher maw he fought during his Rite with Shepard, fell upon the sands of his home planet. Clouds of dust were kicking up all around them, while glimmering lances of light bounced off their flawless metallic skin. His hearts began to beat out a pumping staccato when he realised what had come. The Reapers. But now, where others would feel fear, he only felt regret. Regret that Shepard was not here to fight them with him.

Ground shuddering blasts began to fill the air as the ancient orbital defence cannons fired gigantic slugs at the Reapers. They were formidable for their age, capable of striking a hole through even the toughest ship's armour, but against the Reapers, they may as well have been throwing stones at a wall.

"Grunt!" boomed a gravelly voice. "Get your ass on the line, we've got incoming!"

Urdnot Wrex, the leader of clan Urdnot, and an old friend of Shepard's, was standing behind a crumbling wall, loading a cold thermal clip into his hulking Claymore shotgun. Already, his fellow warriors were manning the wall, holding back kicking guns that would decimate anyone but a krogan.

Swiping his gun from his back, he ran up to Wrex's side and began shooting down field. The wall had obscured his view of the rushing enemy, but now that we has just behind it, he could see the horde of rushing Reapers climbing up towards them.

Still firing, he saw the variety among the great mass of them. He saw the grey-skinned husks he fought with Shepard leaping towards them in wild, loping bounds. He saw giant monstrosities with long, deformed arms stomping behind the wave of husks, roaring with mutilated faces and beating their steel-clad chests. He saw stout, ponderous monsters resembling the Rachni scuttling down cliff-faces, lugging bulbous sacks that dripped with sickly yellow ooze, and these long, synthetic cannons adorning their shoulders. He saw all of them, and still felt no fear. He was krogan, and in the face of such a battle as this, he would feel no fear.

He felt joy.

_**As always, please leave a review. :) **_


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